A man who fatally stabbed his wife of 26 years in the chest outside a Darwin hotel has had his prison term doubled after the Northern Territory's Director of Public Prosecutions successfully appealed his sentence.
The Supreme Court previously heard Dennis Naroldol stabbed his wife through the heart outside the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel on Darwin's picturesque esplanade in April 2023 after the pair got into a drunken argument.
The 60-year-old last year pleaded guilty to negligent manslaughter and was sentenced in March to four years behind bars, with a three-year non-parole period which expired in April.
Prosecutors appealed that sentence and today the NT Court of Criminal Appeal heard while Naroldol had not yet been released on parole, he was potentially being considered for release to a residential alcohol rehabilitation facility.
Sentence 'clearly and obviously inadequate'
In his submissions, Crown prosecutor Patrick Williams said the sentence imposed by Justice Stephen Southwood was "clearly and obviously inadequate" and "did not reflect the maximum penalty and the taking of a human life".
Mr Williams said the sentence also failed to meet important sentencing requirements, including deterrence, punishment, denunciation and protection of the community.
He pointed to findings by Justice Southwood who described the offending as "brazen" given it occurred in a public place in front of multiple witnesses.
"While the offending was not pre-mediated or planned, it was also not spontaneous," he said.
The court heard Naroldol had previously been convicted of assaulting his wife four times between 1995 and 2020, with all four assaults involving weapons, including one involving the use of a knife.
Mr Williams said Naroldol's history of domestic violence and the fact the victim was his wife were relevant considerations, adding to the seriousness of the crime.
He said that was "because of the particularly pernicious nature of domestic violence", which "causes more extended harm to society, to families".
Offending 'unsophisticated and not pre-planned'
In response, defence barrister Emrys Nekvapil SC acknowledged Naroldol's sentence was at the lower end of the appropriate range of sentences, but said it was a "proper" use of judicial discretion.
Mr Nekvapil argued his client's level of intoxication and the fact the attack was "unsophisticated and not pre-planned" were important factors in why the sentence was not inadequate.
"It's the intoxication that means what we're dealing with here is a plea to negligent manslaughter and not … murder by a person with a knife intending to cause serious harm, or even reckless manslaughter," he said.
The court previously heard the pair had been drinking in nearby parkland on the night of the stabbing before Naroldol lay down in the hotel's driveway.
His wife then jabbed him with an umbrella, causing a 9-centimetre knife to fall onto the ground, which he later used to stab her in the chest.
"It's that adventitious circumstance that provides the motive for action," Mr Nekvapil said.
"It's very different from a situation where someone has come along with an intention."
After a brief adjournment, the appeal judges overturned Naroldol's original sentence and re-sentenced him to eight years' imprisonment from the date of his arrest and extended his non-parole period to four years and six months.
"We're in a position to make orders in relation to this matter now, and given the circumstances, we think we should, with reasons to be published in due course," Chief Justice Michael Grant said.
Naroldol will now be eligible for parole in October next year.
