Sentence extended but no jail for NT hit-and-run driver Jake Danby

In June 2024 Jake Danby hit two Aboriginal men with his car on a Darwin street, killing one and injuring the other. He had been given a 12-month community corrections order, including five months in home detention, but the Northern Territory director of public prosecutions appealed the sentence as 'manifestly inadequate'.

On Friday a court of criminal appeal of three judges increased his home detention from five months to two years and chief justice Michael Grant ordered electronic monitoring. The family of the victim, known as Whitehurst for cultural reasons, said they were angry and heartbroken.

'I have a lot of questions, but right now, my heart is just broken,' Toni Whitehurst said. 'I'm strong but I got upset when I was told the new sentence. It’s not fair, he [Danby] is still out there, there is no justice.' Her nephews often ask where their uncle is and 'they miss him,' she said.

jake danby, hit-and-run, darwin, northern territory, home detention, community corrections, electronic monitoring, whitehurst, toni whitehurst, appeal court