Daughter’s plea to honour alleged DV victim

WARNING: Distressing content.

The daughter of an alleged domestic violence victim has issued an urgent plea as she struggles to fund the building of a monument honouring her mother while juggling full custody of her three younger siblings.

Jacqui Purton, 37, died from serious injuries at a Campania property, 35km east of Hobart, Tasmania in March 2023, after police allege she was deliberately hit by a car being driven by James Kenneth Austin.

Austin, 39, who was previously in a relationship with Ms Purton, entered a not guilty plea in April 2023 to one count of murder and was remanded in custody until December 3.

Ms Purton’s 22-year-old daughter Shakira Robinson now has custody of her three younger brothers, aged 12, 14 and 17.

She’d seen a social media post about a dead woman that morning and had tried to call her mother 16 times, but “knew in her heart it was going to be her”.

“She was a shocker for always having a flat phone, so she was difficult to get a hold of,” Ms Robinson said.

“I looked up Facebook … I just felt instantly sick, because as soon as I read it, I just knew it was her immediately.

“I was just sitting there on edge, waiting for this phone call.

“Having mum’s sister say ‘No, your mum was hit by a car, she’s gone’ … that was the first time I actually let out my emotions.”

She then had the impossible task of having to tell her younger siblings what had happened.

“Panic had set in … I had to go and tell my siblings. Just that feeling of having to turn up at mums house and tell them what happened …” Ms Robinson said.

She said her youngest brother went and sat outside while she delivered the news, because he “didn’t want to know”.

“I’m thinking ‘What am I going to say to them?’’ she said.

“I still hadn’t pieced it together myself yet.”

She described her mum as very social, outgoing, and a horse lover.

“She was the loud mouth in the room,” Ms Robinson said affectionately.

“She was obsessed with horses, she passed that gene on to me.

“Nothing could really make her angry or annoyed — she just did her own thing in her own bubble and she didn’t care about what anyone thought about her or what she did.”

Ms Robinson has been attempting to raise money through a Go Fund Me page to build a monument for her mother.

“I want to give mum the absolute best resting place possible …(but I’ve) got brothers to support, and financially it’s just quite difficult,” Ms Robinson said.

The monument is set to cost $8000, with a $5000 deposit required.

“The last year of grief has been hard not only on myself as I juggle being a guardian, work and studying but it has been hard on my siblings too as they now learn to navigate life without our dear mum,” Ms Robinson wrote on the fundraiser description.

“I am seeking help in gathering a deposit to give my mum the final resting place that she deserves. This has become just another one of my responsibilities.

“Mum would’ve done anything to help anyone who needed it, so please help my siblings and I do this one final thing for our mum.”

There have been more than 700 GoFundMe pages that mention domestic violence set up this year alone, according to the organisation.

More than 100 being set up just last month – a 23 per cent increase from September last year.

Ms Robertson was shocked to discover how many fundraisers had been set up.

“It’s just a shame to see that I’m not the only one,” she said.

GoFundMe regional director Nicola Britton said while she was glad to provide a platform to offer assistance, “the increasing use of (GoFundMe) in this way indicates deeper systemic issues could be preventing those impacted from getting help sooner”.

Ms Robertson has also called for DV to be talked about more.

“I want (domestic violence) to be something that is talked about, not shamed and put in a cupboard and ignored,” she said.

“Because treating it the way that it’s being treated currently, and people are too afraid to talk about it … it’s just causing (rates of domestic violence to be) higher and higher, because there aren’t conversations being had”.