Wednesday 9 April 2008

Four years' jail for killing girflriend

A 55-year-old Sydney man has been sentenced to at least four years' jail for killing his girlfriend after she told his ex-girlfriend he sometimes hit her.

Edward David Zammitt had been drinking when he threw Deslie Ward against the fridge at his Dharruk home in western Sydney in 2006. She bounced off and hit her ribs on the kitchen bench.

The next day, the 55-year-old threw Ms Ward against a cupboard, causing her to fall to the floor.

Zammitt told police he had delayed calling an ambulance even though he knew his girlfriend was in pain and having trouble breathing.

He said he thought she would not want him to do anything about her injuries.

Ms Ward was admitted to hospital several hours after the assault and died a week later.

At his sentencing in Sydney today, the magistrate said he had reduced Zammitt's manslaughter sentence to a non-parole period of four years because he had pleaded guilty and was suffering from serious liver disease.

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