Warning: This story contains the name and images of a deceased Indigenous person.
A repeat domestic violence offender has been sentenced to life in prison for stabbing his partner to death in Perth.
Christopher Dimer stabbed 26-year-old Shauna Lee Rose Headland in the neck with a 15-centimetre kitchen knife at a Nollamara home in 2022.
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Dimer had been using meth and cannabis throughout the day.
Outside court, Headland’s loved ones were overcome with emotion after learning the man who killed her would spend at least 20 years behind bars.
“I’m a bit overwhelmed right now, I’m happy with the outcome,” Headland’s mother said.
“I’m happy my baby will rest in peace now.”
Dimer, 42, argued in court that he tried catching a falling knife that was being used to prop up a makeshift curtain.
He was arrested 30 minutes after stabbing Headland, found nearby hiding in a bush.
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Today the judge labelled the stabbing a “senseless attack on a vulnerable woman”.
“She kept our family together. She was one of a kind, she was loving,” Headland’s brother said.
“She never got a chance to be a mother.”
In a letter read to the court by his defence lawyer, Dimer said he wanted to “sincerely apologise”.
“I made one big mistake,” he said, adding that he had regretted it since.
“This whole court case has been trauma for me.”
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Prosecutors said it was Dimer’s fourth domestic violence offence.
Two were against Headland and another involved pushing a former partner in a wheelchair into oncoming traffic.
“No one has the right to take any woman’s life,” Headland’s cousin said.
“If you need help, go and get it.”
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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