A deadbeat dad who fought with his heavily pregnant partner about dirty nappies before driving her to her death has been sentenced to a minimum jail sentence of just two years and two months.
William Wilson, 38, knew his frantic partner Helena Broadbent had been trying to grab the child seats from the back of their Mitsubishi Triton when he took off on September 28, 2019.
He had been determined to get away from their Keilor Downs home, in Melbourne’s northwest, to hide in the mountains and smoke bongs after the petty squabble.
Police allege Ms Broadbent and William Wilson, 35, were in an argument over dirty nappies at their shared home and he left in the ute
William Wilson, pictured outside Melbourne’s County Court of Victoria in 2019, left his pregnant partner for dead
Paramedics could not save Helena Broadbent, but surgeons would save her unborn daughter
The 32-year-old suffered a catastrophic brain injury when she fell backwards out of the vehicle.
She had been 26 weeks pregnant at the time with the couple’s third child.
On Friday, her killer was sentenced in the County Court of Victoria to a total of three-and-a-half years in jail – 130 days of which he has already served on remand.
Wilson had been hellbent on taking the matter to trial, but changed his mind upon being offered a sentence indication by Judge Gerard Mullaly last month.
He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and failing to stop after the incident.
The court heard Wilson had been ticked-off leading up to the event after his partner discovered he had a gambling problem.
So worried about the hulking loser, Ms Broadbent was forced to take out an intervention order that forbid Wilson from hurting her.
On the day Ms Broadbent would die, the couple had engaged in a series of heated arguments in which Ms Broadbent repeatedly dialled emergency operators.
Ms Broadbent, 32, suffered a ‘catastrophic brain injury’ when she fell backwards out of the Mitsubishi Triton in suburban Melbourne and died in hospital after delivering a baby girl by caesarean
The first time she called she told the operator she was worried Wilson would leave with the child seats still in the car.
So worried about it, she asked the operator if she could break the vehicle’s windows to grab the seats.
The next time she phoned the call was diverted to the local police station where Ms Broadbent told an officer Wilson was refusing to help her change a dirty nappy.
The worried mum told an officer she had two kids, was pregnant and Wilson had been taking cannabis.
While on the phone, Wilson took off in the car, which still had the kids’ seats onboard.
The court heard the pair continued to argue throughout the day via text message until Wilson returned home.
On Ms Broadbent’s third call to emergency operators she advised Wilson had threatened to kill her and that he was carrying a hammer.
Again Wilson made a break for the car.
Operators listened on as Ms Broadbent took chase, shouting that she needed the child seats.
‘He’s gonna drive off with me and I’m on the car,’ she was heard to say.
The operator heard her scream and then silence.
William Wilson leaves the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in 2020. He left the mother of his children for dead
A triple zero operator heard an argument, screaming and then silence during a call from pregnant woman Helena Broadbent (pictured) who died when she was ‘flung’ from a ute allegedly driven by her partner, a court has heard
The tragedy was captured on CCTV cameras on the street.
The court heard Ms Broadbent had been trying to remove the seats when Wilson took off, flinging her out onto the road with deadly consequences.
The court heard Wilson knew his partner had gone to ground, but took off all the same.
Wilson was picked up later that night with 14.2 grams of cannabis in his possession.
He had been on the way to his regular ‘hiding spot’ in the mountains while surgeons fought to save the life of his unborn child.
Wilson told police he had been determined to get away from his partner.
‘I’ve gotta get out. The cop shop is five minutes away. It takes them 30 seconds to get there once she’s called,’ he said.
Wilson said Ms Broadbent had thrown open the back door and demanded the child seats when he took off.
‘I’ve looked at her and she’s been running next to the car and I’m like: “what the f**k”. I didn’t say nothing cos I just had to go,’ he told detectives.
The court heard Wilson noticed his partner ‘trip over’ as he turned the corner.
‘The screaming had stopped. I looked over and she’s not there. She’s tripped over,’ he said.
Wilson said he drove off as he couldn’t stand the shame of neighbours staring at him.
‘It’s bad enough now. I drive home, I gotta hold my head down. I can’t look at my neighbours,’ he said.
ilson said he was ashamed to show his face to his neighbours because of his partner’s shouting. He left her to die on the road as she tried to get their children’s safety seats out of his vehicle
Wilson told detectives he knew his partner had fallen over.
‘I knew she tripped okay. I’m sure she tripped over, that’s what I thought. And I thought : “sweet, let’s go, let’s go while she’s f**king not hanging onto the car”,’ he said.
In an emotional victim impact statement, Ms Broadbent’s mum, Tracy Broadbent, who now looks of the couple’s three children, spoke of her pain over the death of her daughter.
‘I can’t even begin to put into words what he’s done. He’s destroyed my soul, crushed me,’ she said.
In sentencing, Judge Mullaly said he accepted Wilson was sorry for his actions and now suffered severe depression.
He further accepted jail time would be more onerous on Wilson due to the current restrictions on movement within the prison system related to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
‘Mr Wilson I have no doubt your decisions and the fatal consequences will remain with you as a heavy weight for the rest of your life,’ he said.
Wilson was also convicted and fined $500 for possessing the cannabis and disqualified from driving for the mandatory minimum period of 18 months.
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