Hit-run driver Jake Danby spared jail time by NT Supreme Court after describing victim as an 'oxygen thief'

A 24-year-old man who hit two Aboriginal pedestrians with his car and sped away, later bragging to his friends he'd run down an "oxygen thief", has been spared actual jail time.

Warning: This story contains content some readers may find distressing and the name of an Indigenous person who has died.

Alice Springs-born Jake Danby was sentenced for hit-and-run driving causing death in the NT Supreme Court on Monday, with Justice Sonia Brownhill handing down a 12-month community corrections order, with five months to be spent in home detention.

On June 13 2024, Danby was speeding in a 60kph zone outside of the Hibiscus Shopping Centre in Leanyer on his way home from work when two men stepped out onto the road.

Danby struck them with his car and then failed to stop.

One of the victims, 39-year-old Mr Whitehurst, was thrown seven metres in the crash and received a traumatic brain injury from which he later died in Royal Darwin Hospital.

A 37-year-old man was hospitalised with non-life threatening injuries.

The court heard Danby sent a series of "disgusting" text messages to his friends in the hours after the crash, in which he labelled the crash victims as "dogs" and "n***ers".

In one message, Danby described the crash as a "two for one combo".

"They learnt their lesson now, maybe next time they will use the crossing instead of walking out in front of cars, expecting me to stop like they own the place," the text message read.

"They were rolling all over the road like bitches when I looked in my … mirror," read another.

"The world needs c***s like me to take a hit to teach these c***s a lifelong lesson."

Another message read "maybe if I'm lucky I'll be able to claim his Centrelink for taking out another oxygen thief".

Justice Brownhill said the text messages "demonstrated a shockingly callous disregard for the welfare of the victims".

"You struck the victim as he was crossing the road, and by doing so you caused him significant injury which ultimately led to his death," she said.

"The degree of callousness and disdain expressed in those text messages for two other human beings, who you have obviously harmed — most likely seriously — is difficult to fathom."

Judge accepts Danby's remorse

Danby's lawyer Michael Drury acknowledged the text messages were "disgusting" but argued the act was an "isolated incident" and said his client had no criminal history and a strong ongoing employment record in the construction industry.

Mr Drury said, while his client "doesn't claim to have found God", he had recently attended a church and spoken to a pastor in regards to the incident.

The court also heard that Danby's mother had died from cancer in the weeks prior to the incident.

Justice Brownhill told Danby she was "prepared to accept that you are genuinely remorseful for your offending, having thought about what you did and how you responded to it, over the course of the time since then".

Outside court after his sentencing, Danby said he was "extremely sorry" for what had occurred and acknowledged the text messages he sent after the incident were "disgusting".

"People make mistakes but you've got to be man enough to own the mistakes and move forward."

Danby will be detained in a house at Humpty Doo for the next five months.