Justifiable homicide
When Violet Roberts and her son Bruce were jailed in 1976 for the murder of her violent husband Eric, public outcry was so great it secured both their releases five years later.
The case was a landmark for women who retaliate against intolerable abuse from male partners. Previously, continuous physical assault and psychological terrorism were not held to be sufficient grounds for the defence of provocation.
The then NSW attorney general, Frank Walker, called the case a "serious miscarriage of justice". The current affairs program, Sixty Minutes, ran the story, which drew overwhelming public sympathy for the Robertses. The group Women Behind Bars campaigned tirelessly for their release.
The killing brought into focus both the powerlessness of many women trapped within violent relationships and the failure of the state to protect them or deliver justice.
In her application for release on licence, Roberts described life with her husband:
"He was a brutal alcoholic. During those last twelve months I was seldom without black eyes, bruises and two days before the crime he broke a bone in one of my fingers.
"In addition I had lost a very dear son, David, two months earlier, to leukemia. I was so distraught, depressed, so very tired that night. I had not had a good night's sleep for months as every night he kept me awake with his insatiable sexual demands."
Violet had been regularly beaten from the moment she married in 1952. On one occasion Eric Roberts was given a six month jail sentence for assault. Police had arrived to find Violet bleeding from the mouth and nose — she was covered in blood.
Violet tried to escape with her children, but Eric returned after his release. She told him to leave, but he ripped her clothes from her body and punched her insensible.
"After that", she said, "I was just too scared to tell him to go again".
On one occasion Bruce rang the police because he feared his father was going to kill Violet. The police came, but left saying they would not intervene in a domestic dispute.
Eric once pointed a .22 rifle at Bruce's head, threatening to kill him.
One evening, Violet and Bruce snapped and shot Eric with a rifle.
According to the Sydney-based Public Interest Advocacy Service, the courts have since become more realistic in their assessment of what amounts to provocation. In the past, provocation could be argued as a defence only if the defendant had lashed out and caused death immediately after being assaulted. Now, courts are recognising that when women kill partners, provocation has often accumulated over years. The actual murder is often hours removed from the last act of assault against the woman — it happens at a moment when she psychologically "snaps".
Recent events, however, show that there is much to be done before there is justice for victims of domestic violence.
Bruce Roberts is now back in jail, arrested for drink driving at Batemans Bay on the NSW south coast. Due to the conditions of his release, this offence means he is now due to serve the remainder of the 15-year sentence for the murder of his father.
Violet Roberts died in 1984, three years after her release.
By Angela Matheson