Domestic violence victim sues supplier of personal safety device alleging her frantic calls went unanswered during ex-partner's attack
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A Victorian woman who was violently assaulted by her ex-partner is suing the supplier of a personal safety device claiming her repeated 'please help me' requests were left unanswered.
The woman, who only wants to be known as Peta, 52, says in court documents she obtained a security watch from Commsync Alert in August 2021 after several family violence incidents at the hands of her ex, Jason Richards.
She was told the device would notify nominated people as well as Queensland-based security provider Back2Base Monitoring if she was in distress.
The nominated people could call triple zero directly by pressing 'five' on their keyboard, while the company had to notify Peta's family violence service provider - who would then call police if required.
Peta, 52, is suing Commsync Alert, a security watch provider who she claims gave her a sense of false security after she alleged its device did not work during an attack in October 2021
After repeated incidents with her ex, Jason Richards, local police and a counsellor urged Peta to wear the security device known as the StandbyU Shield (pictured)
About 11pm on October 17, 2021, Richards, who had five previous intervention orders taken out against him to protect Peta, went to her house uninvited and assaulted her by taping her mouth and attempting to smother her with a pillow.
He also knelt on her throat and tried to hang a noose around her neck but she was able to fight him off.
Richards killed himself the following day.
The attack lasted for about five hours, with Peta pressing the alert on her watch three times and using the audio recording function to say, 'please help me'.
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Back2Base was allegedly notified each time and should have contacted the family violence support service or Victoria Police when Peta did not respond to their checks.
Between 11pm and 4:30am, three pleas for help from Peta were never referred to police and Back2Base never directly contacted her because Richards gained possession of her phone.
The previous intervention orders were taken out against Richards between February and October 2021.
Local police and a counsellor at the Mallee sexual assault unit urged Peta to wear the security device known as the StandbyU Shield.
In a statement of claim filed in the Victorian County Court in March, Peta said she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder and anxiety as a result of the attack.
She is seeking damages and costs from Commsync and Back2Base, alleging they failed to exercise reasonable care towards her.
Richards, who had five previous intervention orders taken out against him to protect Peta, went to her house uninvited and assaulted her for five hours, the court heard
Peta claims the two companies should have contacted police if they received the watch alerts and she was not responsive.
'I thought this thing was supposed to save my life, I thought I'd be safe,' Peta said.
'But the only way I stopped him from killing me was by sticking my finger in his eye when he was trying to smother me.'
Her lawyer Aki Munir, a senior associate of Arnold Thomas & Becker, claimed the watch gave her client a false sense of security.
'The failures associated with (the watch) resulted in dire consequences,' she said.
'Peta's trauma was unnecessary and preventable.'
Gary Rushton, general manager of Back2Base, told AAP he could not comment on the case as it was before the Victorian County Court.
Moray & Agnew partner Jeremy Peck, who is representing Commsync in the proceedings, was also approached for comment.
A defence statement filed on behalf of Commsync Alert alleged that Back2Base Monitoring was not permitted to contact police when Peta did not respond to their phone calls, as set out in the national police alarm activation response guidelines.
'Back2Base's records from 17 October 2021 and 18 October 2021 record that Back2Base monitored the audio around the StandbyU Shield worn by the plaintiff and recorded "could hear couple talking normally", "no one speaking, could hear background movement" and "very little talking – general conversation",' Commsync Alert’s defence statement said.
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