Woman accused of 'repeatedly encouraging' partner to suicide granted bail
Jacinta Ann Drust was granted home detention bail after the court heard lengthy delays are expected in Adelaide's criminal courts. (Supplied: Facebook)
In short:
Adelaide woman Jacinta Ann Drust is accused of repeatedly encouraging her partner to take his own life.
Ms Drust has been granted home detention bail.
A police prosecutor told the court CCTV was captured inside the couple's home allegedly showing Ms Drust verbally abusing her partner.
An Adelaide woman accused of repeatedly encouraging her partner to take his own life has been granted home detention bail.
WARNING: This story contains details that some readers may find distressing.
Jacinta Ann Drust has been charged with the manslaughter of her partner, who died in March 2023.
Ms Drust's lawyer Nick Vadasz applied for her bail last week, saying the 34-year-old intervened in two of his previous suicide attempts and her own mental health had deteriorated in the lead-up to the man's death.
A police prosecutor last week strongly opposed the bail application saying police had obtained CCTV from the former couple's dwelling.
The prosecutor said the vision showed the accused "kicking" and "stomping" the victim, "screaming abuse at him" and "telling him to end his own life".
"She repeatedly told him to 'do it', calling him a coward and threatening to do it herself,"the police prosecutor said.
"The defendant was behaving in an abusive, controlling and threatening manner towards the now deceased."
Jacinta Ann Drust was charged with manslaughter in December 2025. (Supplied: Facebook)
The police prosecutor said Ms Drust's actions occurred in circumstances where the defendant was aware that the deceased had made two previous attempts to end his own life.
"On the day of (the death) the defendant is again verbally abusive … she made belittling comments and verbally abused him over a period of about seven minutes — and he took his life within 25 minutes of her leaving the address," she said.
Mr Vadasz argued there were "significant gaps" in the prosecution's case and suggested a "very long-bow" was being drawn laying the charge.
"[The deceased] was 51-years at the time of his death …Two [suicide attempts] were interrupted by Ms Drust — which is quite inconsistent with the nature of the [manslaughter] charge," the defence lawyer said.
The lawyer added Ms Drust's mental health deteriorated after interrupting his previous attempts, and his client had also received verbal abuse from her partner.
On Tuesday the magistrate granted Ms Drust home detention bail to her Renown Park address.
"I've taken into account that the alleged offending is now almost three years old, she was in the community for the duration of the investigation up until her arrest last week,"the magistrate said.
"Whilst the allegations are extremely serious and part of the prosecution case is CCTV evidence which allegedly records a series of incidents, I note that the matters are contested and Ms Drust is likely to spend a significant period of time in custody awaiting trial."
The police prosecutor asked for a further 12 months for a charge determination hearing, saying a high volume of electronic evidence — including 18 mobile phones that were seized, needed to be analysed.
The magistrate gave the prosecution six months.
The matter returns to court in June.