Tulp
05-06-2006, 10:08
No justice as brutal dad gets off lightly
Herald Sun
05jun06 (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,19363688%255E661,00.html)
A VIOLENT brute with 349 previous convictions has escaped with a slap on the wrist after being convicted of savagely beating his five-year-old son.
All the markings of vicious abuse
Despite his shocking record, Damien Paul Ripper is likely to spend only 18 months in jail for giving the boy a broken jaw and a flogging that left bruises and welts over most of his body.
His son, "Brandon", was left alone, hungry and dehydrated in a locked home unit after he was beaten for being too slow to eat his breakfast.
The attack -- and the leniency of the sentence imposed by a County Court judge -- has shocked police, social workers and teachers.
Ripper, 30, was sentenced to two years' jail with a non-parole period of 18 months for recklessly causing serious injury.
The 18-month minimum term imposed by Judge Fred Davey is one-tenth of the maximum sentence of 15 years allowed by law for that offence.
Outraged welfare groups yesterday called for an appeal against the sentence.
Ripper's convictions include offences of intentionally causing injury, recklessly causing injury, assault with a weapon, assault by kicking, assaulting police, making threats to kill, and unlawful possession of firearms.
His record also includes 13 breaches of suspended sentences and community-based orders.
Police said the attack on Brandon was the culmination of months of abuse by Ripper, who is 192cm tall.
Ripper admitted hitting the boy with his hand, a plastic spoon and a belt, but told police he'd never hit him above the waist.
The boy was freed from a locked Morwell home unit after police with a warrant forced entry about 6.20pm on April 16 last year.
They said Brandon was hunched over and struggling to walk, and too frightened to give any details of his home life.
Ambulance officers horrified by his injuries said it was clear he had been "used as somebody's punching bag".
Brandon was taken to Traralgon Hospital by ambulance and transferred the next day to Monash Medical Centre.
Doctors documented 35 areas of injury on the boy's head, arms, chest, abdomen, back, buttocks, legs and penis.
His injuries included a fractured jaw, a healing fracture of one rib and possible bite marks on his left and right cheeks.
A pediatrician reported Brandon appeared to be a battered child whose injuries suggested repeated deliberately inflicted trauma.
Australian Childhood Foundation director Dr Joe Tucci said yesterday the sentence sent an appalling message.
"It's way out of step with community attitudes," Dr Tucci said. "It's an appalling outcome in relation to how much pain that child suffered and the torture he will continue to suffer as a result of the trauma he's gone through."
Dr Tucci said the 18-month minimum sentence provided no deterrent and no denunciation, two of the key principles of sentencing.
Hetty Johnston, executive director of the child protection charity Bravehearts, said the sentence was a disgrace.
"Is it any wonder the community has little faith in the legal system?" she said.
Brandon (not his real name) does not have the same surname as his father and is living in another part of Victoria.
The Herald Sun has disguised his appearance to protect his privacy and avoid further distress.
Brandon's mother, who has a history of substance and alcohol abuse, was 16 when he was born in June 1999.
She split up with his father, Damien Ripper, about three years later over Ripper's violent behaviour towards her.
Police said Brandon's mother gave him to his father for two days in October 2004, but Ripper failed to return him.
The prosecution case against Ripper included evidence a relative found Brandon with welts on his back and shut in a cupboard in January last year when she visited the Morwell unit Ripper was staying in with an ex-girlfriend so the boy could go to school.
Worried relatives and school teachers saw him several times with black eyes, and once with a broken nose, during the three months between then and the day he was rescued.
The prosecution said Ripper hit the boy that day after arriving at 5am and being woken when his ex-girlfriend yelled at Brandon because he "dilly-dallied over breakfast".
Judge Davey took less than an hour to consider his sentence after hearing prosecution and defence submissions in the County Court sitting at Bairnsdale late last month.
One courtroom observer said Ripper, who pleaded guilty to recklessly causing serious injury, smiled when he heard his sentence.
The judge told Ripper he had resorted to hitting his son as a means of control, and the injuries were severe.
Judge Davey said he had also taken into account Ripper's long criminal record, which was littered with crimes of violence.
He said mitigating factors were Ripper's childhood and the fact he made an effort to take his son in when the boy's mother did not want him.
Defence barrister Michael Sharpley had earlier told the court Ripper had been beaten as a child by his stepfather.
The judge said Ripper bought his son expensive presents but had been unable to adjust to the responsibility of looking after a child and was unsuited to the task.
He said the defence could not get around the photographs of the boy's injuries, and told Ripper his sentence would have been longer if he had not pleaded guilty.
Acting Det-Sgt Peter Johnston, a father of five and the police informant against Ripper, said it was the worst child abuse he'd seen in 15 years.
He said the boy appeared to have been coached to avoid saying how he had been hurt.
Ripper denied hitting Brandon's head when he was interviewed by police.
Ripper fled after police rescued the boy, but surrendered with a solicitor 12 days later.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Paul Coghlan QC, has 28 days from the date of sentence to lodge an appeal.
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:crying: what the poor child must have gone through. This is going to scar him emotionally for a long time.
Of course the defence is going to play the "the father was abused as a child" card.
Why do people who commit crimes against others get off so easy here? It's unbelievable. How can society feel safe? :mad:
Herald Sun
05jun06 (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,19363688%255E661,00.html)
A VIOLENT brute with 349 previous convictions has escaped with a slap on the wrist after being convicted of savagely beating his five-year-old son.
All the markings of vicious abuse
Despite his shocking record, Damien Paul Ripper is likely to spend only 18 months in jail for giving the boy a broken jaw and a flogging that left bruises and welts over most of his body.
His son, "Brandon", was left alone, hungry and dehydrated in a locked home unit after he was beaten for being too slow to eat his breakfast.
The attack -- and the leniency of the sentence imposed by a County Court judge -- has shocked police, social workers and teachers.
Ripper, 30, was sentenced to two years' jail with a non-parole period of 18 months for recklessly causing serious injury.
The 18-month minimum term imposed by Judge Fred Davey is one-tenth of the maximum sentence of 15 years allowed by law for that offence.
Outraged welfare groups yesterday called for an appeal against the sentence.
Ripper's convictions include offences of intentionally causing injury, recklessly causing injury, assault with a weapon, assault by kicking, assaulting police, making threats to kill, and unlawful possession of firearms.
His record also includes 13 breaches of suspended sentences and community-based orders.
Police said the attack on Brandon was the culmination of months of abuse by Ripper, who is 192cm tall.
Ripper admitted hitting the boy with his hand, a plastic spoon and a belt, but told police he'd never hit him above the waist.
The boy was freed from a locked Morwell home unit after police with a warrant forced entry about 6.20pm on April 16 last year.
They said Brandon was hunched over and struggling to walk, and too frightened to give any details of his home life.
Ambulance officers horrified by his injuries said it was clear he had been "used as somebody's punching bag".
Brandon was taken to Traralgon Hospital by ambulance and transferred the next day to Monash Medical Centre.
Doctors documented 35 areas of injury on the boy's head, arms, chest, abdomen, back, buttocks, legs and penis.
His injuries included a fractured jaw, a healing fracture of one rib and possible bite marks on his left and right cheeks.
A pediatrician reported Brandon appeared to be a battered child whose injuries suggested repeated deliberately inflicted trauma.
Australian Childhood Foundation director Dr Joe Tucci said yesterday the sentence sent an appalling message.
"It's way out of step with community attitudes," Dr Tucci said. "It's an appalling outcome in relation to how much pain that child suffered and the torture he will continue to suffer as a result of the trauma he's gone through."
Dr Tucci said the 18-month minimum sentence provided no deterrent and no denunciation, two of the key principles of sentencing.
Hetty Johnston, executive director of the child protection charity Bravehearts, said the sentence was a disgrace.
"Is it any wonder the community has little faith in the legal system?" she said.
Brandon (not his real name) does not have the same surname as his father and is living in another part of Victoria.
The Herald Sun has disguised his appearance to protect his privacy and avoid further distress.
Brandon's mother, who has a history of substance and alcohol abuse, was 16 when he was born in June 1999.
She split up with his father, Damien Ripper, about three years later over Ripper's violent behaviour towards her.
Police said Brandon's mother gave him to his father for two days in October 2004, but Ripper failed to return him.
The prosecution case against Ripper included evidence a relative found Brandon with welts on his back and shut in a cupboard in January last year when she visited the Morwell unit Ripper was staying in with an ex-girlfriend so the boy could go to school.
Worried relatives and school teachers saw him several times with black eyes, and once with a broken nose, during the three months between then and the day he was rescued.
The prosecution said Ripper hit the boy that day after arriving at 5am and being woken when his ex-girlfriend yelled at Brandon because he "dilly-dallied over breakfast".
Judge Davey took less than an hour to consider his sentence after hearing prosecution and defence submissions in the County Court sitting at Bairnsdale late last month.
One courtroom observer said Ripper, who pleaded guilty to recklessly causing serious injury, smiled when he heard his sentence.
The judge told Ripper he had resorted to hitting his son as a means of control, and the injuries were severe.
Judge Davey said he had also taken into account Ripper's long criminal record, which was littered with crimes of violence.
He said mitigating factors were Ripper's childhood and the fact he made an effort to take his son in when the boy's mother did not want him.
Defence barrister Michael Sharpley had earlier told the court Ripper had been beaten as a child by his stepfather.
The judge said Ripper bought his son expensive presents but had been unable to adjust to the responsibility of looking after a child and was unsuited to the task.
He said the defence could not get around the photographs of the boy's injuries, and told Ripper his sentence would have been longer if he had not pleaded guilty.
Acting Det-Sgt Peter Johnston, a father of five and the police informant against Ripper, said it was the worst child abuse he'd seen in 15 years.
He said the boy appeared to have been coached to avoid saying how he had been hurt.
Ripper denied hitting Brandon's head when he was interviewed by police.
Ripper fled after police rescued the boy, but surrendered with a solicitor 12 days later.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Paul Coghlan QC, has 28 days from the date of sentence to lodge an appeal.
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:crying: what the poor child must have gone through. This is going to scar him emotionally for a long time.
Of course the defence is going to play the "the father was abused as a child" card.
Why do people who commit crimes against others get off so easy here? It's unbelievable. How can society feel safe? :mad: