An Aboriginal woman who starred in the newly released Mad Bastards film has been jailed for three years for stabbing to death her drunk and abusive partner in a case of life imitating art.
Roxanne Maree Williams was pregnant with her second child when she took a large butcher's knife and thrust it once into the chest of her partner Joseph Anthony Johnston in their Wyndham home on May 15 last year.
Williams tried resuscitating Mr Johnston and immediately called police and paramedics, who rushed him to the local hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The pair already had a seven-year-old daughter together and in November last year she gave birth to their second child while being held in custody at Bandyup Prison over his death.
Williams pleaded guilty to the charge of manslaughter and yesterday Supreme Court Justice Michael Murray sentenced her to three years jail to be backdated to when she was first incarcerated in May.
He has granted her the opportunity to apply for parole which means she could be released as early as her child's first birthday, which is when the baby would be expected to be taken from her to be raised outside the prison.
In sentencing Justice Murray acknowledged the rave review Mad Bastards director Brendan Fletcher gave Williams, saying: "He speaks highly of Ms Williams and her qualities in a way which gives the court some confidence for her future, that she may be able to complete successfully the process of rehabilitation upon which she has embarked."
In an act of life imitating art Mr Johnston was stabbed during one of his rages, which was fuelled at the time by nine beers and 10 tequila shots. The film depicts the violent and alcohol-fuelled dysfunction in Kimberley communities.
Justice Murray said in considering the seriousness of the case he could not put a value on the life that was taken but did acknowledge Williams had been subjected to years of abuse by her partner, who "under the influence of alcohol and other illicit substances, he was a man whose frustrations with life and the raw deal that he had received bubbled to the surface, and it expressed itself in quite savage violence at times".
"If he commenced the violence, it was often without reason, and he would persist in it, and she was afraid. I think her fear was fear with some real cause," Justice Murray said.
He said whatever the cause of the argument that night, her fear for further reprisals that may also jeopardise her unborn child made her fearful that she could not escape.
"She did not threaten him defensively with the knife, she went to him and she stabbed him. The stab wound was a single stab wound," he said.
"The deceased was immediately disabled and dropped to the ground.
"I think on all the evidence it is clear that Ms Williams' remorse was instant. She endeavoured to resuscitate him.
"She knew that she would have to deal with the police in relation to the matter and she did not run but she sought to have the police engaged. That is all very much to her credit."
Source http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/imad-bastardsi-actor-jailed-for-stabbing-death-20110506-1ebqx.html?from=watoday_sb
Roxanne Maree Williams was pregnant with her second child when she took a large butcher's knife and thrust it once into the chest of her partner Joseph Anthony Johnston in their Wyndham home on May 15 last year.
Williams tried resuscitating Mr Johnston and immediately called police and paramedics, who rushed him to the local hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The pair already had a seven-year-old daughter together and in November last year she gave birth to their second child while being held in custody at Bandyup Prison over his death.
Williams pleaded guilty to the charge of manslaughter and yesterday Supreme Court Justice Michael Murray sentenced her to three years jail to be backdated to when she was first incarcerated in May.
He has granted her the opportunity to apply for parole which means she could be released as early as her child's first birthday, which is when the baby would be expected to be taken from her to be raised outside the prison.
In sentencing Justice Murray acknowledged the rave review Mad Bastards director Brendan Fletcher gave Williams, saying: "He speaks highly of Ms Williams and her qualities in a way which gives the court some confidence for her future, that she may be able to complete successfully the process of rehabilitation upon which she has embarked."
In an act of life imitating art Mr Johnston was stabbed during one of his rages, which was fuelled at the time by nine beers and 10 tequila shots. The film depicts the violent and alcohol-fuelled dysfunction in Kimberley communities.
Justice Murray said in considering the seriousness of the case he could not put a value on the life that was taken but did acknowledge Williams had been subjected to years of abuse by her partner, who "under the influence of alcohol and other illicit substances, he was a man whose frustrations with life and the raw deal that he had received bubbled to the surface, and it expressed itself in quite savage violence at times".
"If he commenced the violence, it was often without reason, and he would persist in it, and she was afraid. I think her fear was fear with some real cause," Justice Murray said.
He said whatever the cause of the argument that night, her fear for further reprisals that may also jeopardise her unborn child made her fearful that she could not escape.
"She did not threaten him defensively with the knife, she went to him and she stabbed him. The stab wound was a single stab wound," he said.
"The deceased was immediately disabled and dropped to the ground.
"I think on all the evidence it is clear that Ms Williams' remorse was instant. She endeavoured to resuscitate him.
"She knew that she would have to deal with the police in relation to the matter and she did not run but she sought to have the police engaged. That is all very much to her credit."
Source http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/imad-bastardsi-actor-jailed-for-stabbing-death-20110506-1ebqx.html?from=watoday_sb
