Dannielle Finlay-Jones: Systemic failure revealed as inquest hears alert on killer Ashley Gaddie was missed

A harrowing coronial inquest into the death of a Sydney teacher’s aide has come to an emotional close, with the court being told the pair had met on a dating site just eight days before her murder.

Dannielle Finlay-Jones was just 31 when she was killed by Ashley Gaddie, 33, a man who unbeknown to her had a horrific history of domestic violence and six AVOs from five other women.

The pair had been out to Christmas drinks on December 17, 2022 with Ms Finlay-Jones’ friends, the first time they had met Gaddie, before they went home to a friend’s house in Cranebrook in Sydney’s northwest.

The next morning, Ms Finlay-Jones was found dead in her friend’s spare bedroom, and Gaddie had fled the scene.

He was later arrested on suspicion of murder; however, he will never be held fully accountable for the act after he died while in custody.

On Thursday, counsel assisting Donna Ward SC said Ms Finlay-Jones died of a blunt force injury and pressure on the neck consistent with strangling.

“The court would be comfortably satisfied that Ashely Gaddie conflicted those injures,” she said.

Gaddie’s fingerprints were found in the spare bedroom, with the fly screen also broken where it is believed the 33-year-old escaped.

Ms Ward said the pair’s relationship was still in its infancy at the time of the murder.

“They had only met in person eight days before Danielle’s death,” she said.

Turning to Gaddie’s violent past, the inquest was told the tradesman was seemingly unable to sustain a long-term intimate relationship.

“His relationships grew shorter and shorter and some of those relationships overlapped,” Ms Ward said.

“His relationships were characterised by physical and verbal abuse, often while intoxicated.”

He also had previous convictions for horrific domestic violence offences as well as six AVOs taken out against him by five different women between 2016 and 2022.