Dad hails sentence ‘strong stance’

THE father of a Far North woman abducted and abused by her ex-partner before he drove off the side of the Kuranda Range has praised a 12year jail sentence handed down to him by a Cairns judge.

Daniel Rooney, 26, will have to serve 80 per cent of the sentence and has been classified a serious violent offender over the 16-hour “hell” in which he punched her unconscious.

Her father said the result showed a “strong stance against domestic violence”.

Justice Jim Henry said there remained no explanation behind his “disproportionate” and “dangerous” reaction to their relationship break-up.

A domestic violence expert says she is lucky to be alive.

A FAR North family feared they would never see their daughter alive again after she was abducted by her former boyfriend and driven off the side of a mountain range.

The couple faced an unthinkable 16-hour wait for news as her captor beat her unconscious and drove her across the Tablelands before launching their car 73 metres off the side of the Kuranda Range.

Yesterday her father told of their private “hell” while praising the 12-year jail sentence handed to the offender, 26year-old Port Douglas chef Daniel Rooney.

“Twenty-one months ago my wife and myself and my younger daughter, we went through hell not knowing whether we were going to get our daughter back alive,” he said.

“We were lucky, we got our daughter back.

“There’s many cases in domestic violence where the result isn’t so good so the sentencing today is a strong stance against domestic violence.”

Rooney pleaded guilty to 29 charges in the Cairns Supreme Court, mostly linked to the June 14, 2017, incident.

The family, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, were in the Cairns Supreme Court yesterday as Justice Jim Henry handed down the lengthy sentence with the provision.

Justice Henry slammed the offender’s “extraordinary crimes” and the effect it has had on the young victim.

“She feels as if she’s lost her life as a normal young woman and has difficulty comprehending your conduct, your betrayal, your manipulation, your disruption, your repeated violation of her and the sanctity of her existence,” he said.

The court heard his stalking, harassment and manipulation of her began the day after she ended their relationship on May 17, 2017.

That night he broke into her unit and strangled her unconscious in her sleep before convincing her in the morning he’d only done it as she’d suffered a seizure and took her to a doctor.

For the next month his stalking became so concerning her boss had CCTV cameras installed at their office, including a camera pointed at her desk.

He also repeatedly breached a domestic violence order issued on May 25.

Early on June 14 he knocked her unconscious again and abducted her before the 16-hour ordeal unfolded.

It ended as he drove off the side of the range while saying “I’m sorry”.

She managed to flee him after the car crashed, and ran to the safety of nearby police.

Rooney also had his driver’s license disqualified for life.

He will be eligible for parole in late 2026.