Widow questions justice after beach killing

[Belangalo]

The widow of a man who died after being struck with a cricket bat while celebrating Christmas on a West Australian beach has questioned a court's acceptance of a lesser charge against her husbands killer.

Sheep farmer William Rowe , 49 , died in hospital on Boxing Day last year after his family , celebrating Christmas at Geraldton's Sunset beach about 430km north of Perth , was attacked by a groupmof people in the beach car park. Matthew Roy McDonald , 21 ,yesterday pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Stirling Gardens Magistrate Court in Perth and will be sentenced in the Supreme Court in December.

Prosecutors agreed to drop a murder charge after an expert said the blow from the cricket bat alone was not suffcient to cause Mr Rowe's death.

Mr Rowe's widow Ellen today told ABC radio a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions informing her the charge had been changed had not arrived at her remote address.

''We feel as though natural justice has been taken away from us , there's a legal justice which i completely understand , i accept and i tolerate.

''We lost our bloke-our family's beliefs , the belief's we've been raised to believe , have been blown out of the water. ''We miss Billy terribly and life has just been turned upside down,'' she said.

''I was there , my children were there. When i reflect on the violence that was inflicted and i believe the harmful intention , i find it very hard , myself and my children and Bill's family , to accept this (court) outcome.

''OK the blow did not cause enough brain damage according to the forensic pathologist. Bill went down like a stone , unconscious and hit the bitumen , in which case he got hit on the side of the face , he was nit expecting it. ''He ws holding our dog , he was just standing there.'' Mrs Rowe said she hoped the man charged over her husband's death was remorseful and could change his ways.

''I hope he won't ever to do it again,'' she said.

Mrs Rowe said she felt her husband's life was cheap.

''Is that what his life was worth? In the circumstances , the way it all happened?I feel sorry for all of us , including the perpetrators.

News item found at dailytelegraph.com.au By Andrea Hayward October 16 2008

[Belangalo]

Article found at thewest.com.au December 2 2008

A widow whose husband died after being struck with a cricket bat at a beach last christmas has expressed her disappointment with his attacker's sentence.

The West Australian Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced Matthew Roy McDonald , 22 , to five years in jail for the manslaughter of pastoralist William (Bill) John Rowe , 49 , last year.

Mr Rowe would ahve turned 50 on Tuesday , died in hospital on Boxing Day after his head struck the ground when McDonald struck him with a cricket bat in the car park of Geraldton's Sunset Beach.

Prosecutors dropped the murder charge after an expert said the blow from the cricket bat alone was not enough to cause Mr Rowe's death.

Justice John McKechnie also sentenced McDonald to a further nine months for a 2006 unlawful wounding charge for which McDonald had earlier received a suspended term.

The maximum penalty for manslaughter is 20 years.

Prosecutor James Mactaggart told the court a day of typical family celebrations had turned into a nightmare.

McDonalds came up with the idea of stealing some drinks out of the Rowe's family's esky and what started as petty , trivial incident escalated into a violent and tragic situation , Mr Mactaggart.

A fisherman who witnessed the incident said members of both families were fighting , but conflicting accounts were given by the families about what happened on the beach that night.

Mr Mactaggart said a bottle was smashed over Mr Rowe's intended son-in-law and the family was pelted with rocks and stones as they tried to leave the beach.

Mr Rowe asked for a cricket bat he had given a family member as a Christmas gift to be returned as he held his dog in his arms , the court was told.

McDonald lifted the bat and struck Mr Rowe to the side of the head as he was talking , Mr Mactaggart said.

Mr Rowe's family saw the assault , and one of his sons ran to his aid after he hit the ground.

Mr Rowe was alive and squeezed his sons hand en route to hospital but he did not regain consciousness after arriving and and was taken off life support on Boxing Day.

McDonalds lawyer , Peter Collins , said his client had come from a disadvantaged background and had encountered violence at almost every turn , as he grew up in a large Aboriginal family.

He had smoked 30 bongs of cannabis on Christmas morning and began drinking at 10am when he arrived at his grandmother's that day.

Mr Collins said his client claimed he was assaulted at the beach by members of the Rowe family who , he said , also assaulted his uncle.

McDonald said his family was just trying to defend themselves.

Mr Collins said his client had pannicked when he hit Mr Rowe with the bat and sorry for his actions.

Justice McKechnie said he believed McDonald had not actewith pre-meditation before striking Mr Rowe.

''It was a spur of the moment act in drunkenness , it was a spur of the moment act that led to death '' Justice McKechnie said.ms Rowe described the hardship of her family having to run two pastoral properties without Mr Rowe .

McDonald cried as she , in a victims impact statement , also told of her and her family's pain.

''Last Christmas is a day we will never forget , and Christmas will never be innocent again ,'' Ms Rowe said.

'' Matthew McDonald - you took away my best friend and my guiding light to share my worries ... You took away the rock of our family.''

Outside court , Ms Rowe called on politicians to legislate minimum terms of imprisonment for violent offences causing death.

''We relaise that nothing will bring our husband and father back , however , we loved him dearly and we are disappointed and frustrated at the small sentence handed down today,'' she said.

''My husband got the death sentence , this family gets the life sentence and Matthew McDonald gets the choice of rehabilitation.

McDonald will be eligible for parole.