A man has been charged with murder after the body of a woman was located in Ballina yesterday.
About 12.30am (Wednesday 4 January 2022), a man attended Ballina Police Station and reported a welfare concern for a woman known to him.
Officers from Richmond Police District attended Holden Lane, near Cherry Street, Ballina, and located the body of a woman.
She is yet to be formally identified but is believed to be aged 64.
Local detectives, with assistance from the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad, are investigating the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death under Strike Force Blaikie.
The man – aged 66 – was arrested at the police station and has since been charged with murder (DV) and contravene prohibition/restriction in AVO (Domestic).
He has been refused bail to appear at Lismore Local Court today (Thursday 5 January 2023).
Investigations are continuing.
Anyone with information that may assist Strike Force Blaikie investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.
This is tragic. I heard it on the ABC this morning. They said ‘a man will be charged with murder and breaching an AVO.’
What is the point of a breach charge ? The woman is dead. I think it shows that for some women at risk, an AVO is not enough.
AVOs only keep people safe from people who have at least some ability to control themselves. That’s not a very high proportion. Police can’t respond quickly enough to save victims from criminals with murderous intent, and there aren’t enough teeth in the consequences for breaching to deter violent, entitled perps. Removing that entitlement is the only way to prevent domestic violence. Their egotistical rage issues are their own problem to seek help for, but the “understanding” and tacit support from the people they do respect is what reinforces the entitlement. If they thought they’d be widely considered *less* of a man for murdering a woman, they wouldn’t do it.