Ralph “Terry” Gibbs believed he was “acting out of love” when he made an ill-fated dash across the Australian outback to bring his partner with dementia home, but the 80-year-old ended up with a suspended jail sentence and a two-year restraining order.
Gibbs on Jan. 4 took his partner of 15 years, Carol Lisle, from a nursing home in Mandurah — an hour south of Perth.
The builder said he wanted to take her back to their Queensland home near the beach.
Police found the pair in unforgiving 43°C heat, deep in the harsh and remote Western Australian desert — just an hour from the Northern Territory border.
After two days on the lam, the 84-year-old Lisle, who uses a wheelchair, was reportedly found distressed, smelling of urine, and still in the same trousers and floral top she was wearing when taken.
Gibbs, who the court heard had not slept properly for days, was interrogated, arrested and placed in jail.
He was charged with deprivation of liberty and endangering Lisle’s life, but on Feb. 9 he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful detention.
This week, wearing flip-flops and supported by a bare wooden crutch, Gibbs hobbled into a Perth magistrates court, where he was sentenced to seven months in jail, suspended for 12 months.
Magistrate Raelene Johnston told Gibbs that although he was motivated by love, he had put his wishes above Lisle’s needs.
“I accept that you believe you were acting out of love and that you were acting out of care for your partner and that you wanted to be with her, and you believed that she wanted to be with you,” Johnston said.
“But objectively your conduct was extremely dangerous, and the objective seriousness of your offending was made clear by the reactions of those people who observed you,” she added.
The court heard that witnesses at a shopping center in Kalgoorlie, about seven hours’ drive east of Mandurah, saw Gibbs leave Lisle in the vehicle and suggested he take his passenger to a hospital.
Gibbs maintained that she was happy and fine on the journey.
He said he had plenty of food, water, medication and 11 cans of diesel to fuel his recently purchased Mazda Ute.
The pair traversed gravel tracks and slept in the truck on the edge of the road during their trip, he said.
Johnston, in her sentencing remarks, said the escapade could have ended in tragedy.
For Gibbs, it did.
The sad reality is that a two-year restraining order imposed on Gibbs, who has medical issues and reduced mobility, means he might never see his lover again.
“I fear that I might never see my little girl again. She is fading quickly,” he told reporters outside the court.
The case highlights the brutal toll dementia can take on families.
It is the leading cause of death for women in Australia and there are an estimated 487,500 Australians living with the disease, Dementia Australia said.
Lisle has Parkinson’s disease and has had symptoms of dementia for the past three years, Gibbs said.
She was placed in the Mercy Place Mandurah aged cared facility in March last year by the State Administrative Tribunal under a guardianship ruling.
“Seeing her in the care home in Perth was devastating,” Gibbs said.
Gibbs is disputing the guardianship.
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