A man who fatally stabbed his partner of 30 years in a remote community in Western New South Wales will spend at least 12 years behind bars.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name of a person who has died.
Kenneth James Knight, 52, appeared before the Supreme Court sitting at Bourke today, via video link from Clarence Correctional Centre, to be sentenced for murdering Cassandra Brown in the early hours of March 13, 2021.
Justice Dina Yehia sentenced Knight to 17 years and six months, with a non-parole period of 12 years and six months.
She found it was an "impulsive and spontaneous" act that resulted in "profoundly tragic circumstances" and said she accepted Knight had no intention to kill his partner.
When the attack occurred, Knight was heavily intoxicated and subject to an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO) prohibiting him from being in Ms Brown's company for 12 hours after he'd been drinking.
When asked by defence barrister Ian Nash in court if he had intended to kill Ms Brown, Knight said "no, no way".
In an apology to Ms Brown's family and his own, he said he was "ashamed" of what he did and "regrets it everyday".
"To my kids and grandkids I'm sorry for the sadness and grief caused by what I done," he said, after a long pause.
"To lose your mum and nan would have been hard and again I'm sorry. It's something I will regret for the rest of my life."
In the night leading up to the murder, the 52-year-old had been at Ms Brown's home drinking cans of vodka and bourbon, after she left for work at about 3.30pm.
Following work Ms Brown attended the Bourke Bowling Club, where Knight was also drinking.
CCTV footage from the club showed Knight consumed about 11 schooners of beer, but the couple did not drink or socialise together the entire time.
After midnight, the pair caught a courtesy bus and were dropped to Ms Brown's home.
Shortly afterwards, people inside the home heard Knight and Ms Brown arguing.
Ms Brown said she did not want Knight to sleep at the house, telling him she would call the police if he didn't leave.
That's when Knight walked into the kitchen and picked up a black-handled knife. He held it behind his back and approached Ms Brown who was standing in the bedroom doorway, court documents said.
He grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her backwards, stabbing her in the back with the knife.
Ms Brown screamed out to a family member "Kenneth stabbed me", before she fell to the ground with blood pouring from the wound in her back.
Knight threw the knife into the laundry and left the house.
A family member applied pressure to the wound in Ms Brown's back before contacting triple-0 for help.
Paramedics arrived at 12.41am and performed CPR, but Ms Brown was pronounced dead at the scene.
Knight tried to quit drinking days before murder, court hears
Today, Justice Yehia made a finding of special circumstances.
She highlighted the fact that it was Knight's first time being incarcerated, and said that a lengthy term of imprisonment would increase his risk of becoming institutionalised, and could cause him severe depression.
She said Knight required a longer period on parole to assist him with readjusting to life in the community and obtaining culturally appropriate rehabilitation programs.
The court heard Knight had been subject to profound intergenerational trauma, but had not started drinking alcohol until the age of 19.
Justice Yehia drew on a report by a psychologist from the Bourke Aboriginal Corporation Health Service, that revealed Knight held a genuine desire to stop drinking on numerous occasions and had attempted to do so without success.
His last attempt was days before the murder.
The court heard Knight had been convicted for assault occasioning actual bodily harm in 2009 and 2015.
In 2018 he was sentenced to a jail term in the community for an assault occasioning actual bodily harm and contravening an ADVO, which Justice Yehia revealed was also against Ms Brown.
