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ARTHUR Freeman, the man who threw his four-year-old daughter off a bridge, has been jailed for life today. Justice Paul Coghlan today sentenced Arthur Phillip Freeman to life with a non-parole period of 32 years. Freeman showed no reaction throughout the hearing, but had to be pulled from the court room by three court guards after a bizarre outburst after the sentence was handed down. Freeman backed into a corner of the dock to avoid guards as he accused an in-law of being implicated in the theft of diamonds from a Western Australian mine, Federal Police phone taps and mentioned death threats to himself in the rant. During a 40-minute statement that had finished moments earlier, Justice Coghlan said Freeman had not shown remorse or even begun to understand the enormity of his brutal crime. “You are yet to say sorry for what you have done," he said. “Your attitude to these matters remain self-centred. I regard your prospects of rehabilitation as bleak.” Darcey Freeman died after being thrown 58m to her death off West Gate Bridge in Melbourne on January 29, 2009. Freeman, 37, was last month found guilty of murder despite pleading not guilty on the grounds of mental impairment. Freeman's lawyer had argued that his client was "mad" not "bad". In handing down the life sentence, the judge said he understood the argument that he should be “locked away for ever”, but he was obliged to consider other factors. “Whatever happens, you will spend what many consider will be the best years of your life in prison. But he said he did not think he was “beyond redemption” and took into account good behaviour, family support and references. The judge also said, "One of the unfortunate features of this case is that others blame themselves", but the judge said they should not. “You are responsible for it. And nobody else,” Justice Coghlan said. The judge said while there was little evidence that Freeman was suffering from mental illness, he did accept that the murder was not premeditated. “We do not know what Mr Freeman was thinking." In a victim impact statement read to the court at Freeman's pre-sentence hearing early this month, his former wife Peta Barnes said Darcey's loss was "indescribable". "Not a day goes by where I do not constantly think of Darcey, where I don't miss her and wish with all my heart that she was with me," Ms Barnes said. Prosecutors argued during the trial that Freeman killed Darcey in a "fit of anger" at Ms Barnes. Freeman had the amount of time he had custody of his children reduced the day before he murdered Darcey. Minutes before the murder Freeman telephoned Ms Barnes and told her to "say goodbye to your children" and "you will never see your children again". Dozens of motorists stuck in peak-hour traffic on the bridge watched the murder. One witness, Barry Nelson, recalled seeing Darcey's hair and limbs flying. As Freeman walked back to his car he looked like he "may have been posting a letter", Mr Nelson said. Freeman's six-year-old son Ben also witnessed his sister being murdered. "She didn't even scream ... on her fall," Ben told police. When Freeman drove off Ben urged him to turn back. "Darcey can't swim," he said. Freeman will be eligible for release on the 29th January 2041. He will be 67 years of age AAP 11-4-2011 http://www.news.com.au/national/bridge-dad-jailed-for-darcey-murder/story-e6frfkvr-1226037030533 |
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AN evil father faces life in jail after a jury found him guilty of murdering his daughter Darcey Freeman by throwing the four-year-old off the West Gate Bridge in revenge against his ex-wife. The jury of five men and seven women took five days to reach its guilty verdict, and rejected Arthur Freeman's 
Freeman remained motionless and emotionless as he did during the two-week trial when hearing the verdict, which was handed down at 7.50pm. His expression was mirrored by his ex-wife Peta Barnes and his parents. Ms Barnes' mother cried uncontrollably, as did most members of the jury, when their decision was read out. The emotional toll this trial had on the jury was evident on Sunday when they told Supreme Court Justice Paul Coghlan that they would not be able to reach a unanimous verdict and tension between jury members was clearly evident, with some also in tears. But yesterday, in what is to believed to be a first, seven individual jurors penned their own questions and quizzed the judge about the law and the defence of mental impairment. Ms Barnes gave evidence that moments before Freeman, 37, murdered their daughter, he phoned her and said "say goodbye to your children" and during a follow-up phone call seconds later said "you'll never see your children again". The Crown prosecution argued the former Whittington man was angry over having his custody arrangements with his three children, Ben, 6, Darcey, 4 and Jackson, 2, cut by almost four hours a week on the day before Darcey was thrown 58m to her death. Prosecutors used psychiatrists, police and civilians to show his actions were "voluntary and conscious" when he did the unthinkable on January 29, 2009 at 9.15am. "In a (fit) of anger with Peta Barnes (Darcey's mum) he stopped on the bridge and threw Darcey over the rail," Crown prosecutor Gavin Silbert, SC, said during closing arguments. "We are perhaps indeed fortunate that he didn't throw all three children over the bridge." He said Freeman was clean-shaven with short hair at the time of the murder, but had since changed his appearance for the trial and adopted the "Rasputin-like appearance of a mad monk". After Darcey's fatal fall, CCTV vision captured Freeman frozen when he arrived at the Commonwealth Law Courts, where was shaking and unresponsive to his two young boys' hugs and questions. Defence Barrister David Brustman, SC, said during closing arguments the jury had a "herculean task" to acquit Freeman and asked them was his client "the face of pure evil?". During his opening address, Mr Brustman told the jury they had to decide if Freeman was "mad or bad" when he killed his daughter. The trial was told six psychiatrists assessed Freeman but only one, sole defence witness Professor Graham Burrows, found him mentally impaired. Burrows, who examined Freeman 11 months after the tragedy, said Freeman was in a "dissociated state" and likened his mind to someone who sleep walks and does not remember their actions. Freeman will return to court for a plea hearing on Friday. Geelong Advertiser (28-3-2011) Aleks Devic http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2011/03/28/250801_news.html |
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