ACR203 - Crime, Victims, and Justice: Helena Broadbent Media Analysis

This report provides a detailed analysis of the media coverage surrounding the death of Helena Broadbent, focusing on how she is represented as a crime victim. The analysis examines various media articles, including those from Mail Online, The Age, ABC News, and The Guardian, to understand how the media constructs the narrative around Helena's death. The report explores key themes such as the concept of an 'ideal victim' as defined by Christie, victim blaming, and the responses of society, the media, and the criminal justice system. It highlights how the media portrays Helena, considering factors such as her pregnancy, her relationship with her husband, and the circumstances of her death to determine whether she fits the profile of an ideal victim and how the public might perceive her. The report also examines the different perspectives presented in various news sources and how they contribute to the overall understanding of the case, including the legal aspects and public sympathy.

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IDEAL CRIMINAL
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IDEAL CRIMINAL
For the most part of the articles, the media portrays Helena’s case from different
perspectives. The media has failed to give credit to Helena’s husband in as much as he is the
main contributor to Helena’s death. Much as we are not aware of the previous history of Helena
and her husband. The stories depict a bitter relationship between the tow. Additionally, this essay
seeks to analyze various media coverage of Helena’s death incident and how it is portrayed by
various media articles, the key issues and how relevant they are to Helena’s case. The media
representations in this article present Helena as an ideal victim since, at her status, she is
vulnerable i.e. she is pregnant. Her pregnancy enhances the level of risks she faced because she
could not defend herself. Hence, Helena qualifies for Christie’s perspective of an ideal victim
and thus she would receive sympathy from the community. The community would converse,
Helena, the status of a legitimate victim.
PICTURED: Heavily-pregnant mum, 32, who died after falling from a moving car - as her
boyfriend is arrested and her newborn baby fights for life after being delivered by emergency C-
section, by Brittany
According to Mail Online, “A beautiful, caring’’ (Brittany, 2019, par. 7), is used to
describe the victim as one who not only cared for her family but had stunning looks. The media
uses such statements in quotation to associate Helena with feminism. Besides, mothers are
figures vested with the responsibility of ‘caring’ for their families. Therefore, this calls for
sympathy for such an important figure who did not deserve to die. This also elucidates thoughts
on who will care for Helena’s children now that she has succumbed to the incident. In addition,
Mail online pictured Helena with her Brother Paul Broadbent showing how loving Helena was to
people who were closer to her. The purpose of this content is to emphasize on Helena’s caring

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and loving figure as apparent, a sister and as a mother. A stereotype depicting women as warm
and loving. Hence, worth an ideal victim through the elements reflected by the media in this
article.
Man charged as neighbors recall beautiful Keilor Downs mother by Ashleigh McMillan, Paul
Sakkal and Papwort, Tate
In addition, The Age elucidates important elements of Helena in their article” Man
charged as neighbors recall beautiful Keilor Downs Mother.” (Ashleigh McMillan & Papwort,
2019, par 1)First, the content of this article is all about Helena’s neighbors and their description
of the late Helena as a loving mother to her children. The neighbors seem not to believe in the
ultimate demise of Helena. To their dismay, her house remains vacant with no occupant. This
depicts the true nature of how death brings loneliness. In addition, they could no longer receive
the usual’ halo wave’ from Helena thus showing how death had consumed a great figure in their
lives. It also shows that Helena was sociable and friendly to her neighbors. The missing door
curtains in Helena's house shows a state of loneliness. By describing Helena’s car, “I’m not sure
what happens with the car either. She was so excited about the car. She’d saved and saved for it
and finally bought it just last week. It’s sad to see it sitting there.” (Ashleigh McMillan &
Papwort, 2019, par. 8)This shows that Helena was a hardworking mother who tolled hard to get
what she wanted however long it could take or much it could cause her. This shows that Helena
was a victim of the circumstance that had befallen her and she never deserved to die such a
horrible death before she could enjoy her new car that she had bought a few days ago. The
media, therefore, depicts Helena as a blameless victim because she was a good neighbor who
never had any beef with her neighbors. This articulates Helena as an ideal victim who deserved
sympathy from the public and was worth full legal defense.

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Man charged with dangerous driving over death of Helena Broadbent in Keilor Downs, by
Victoria
In ABC News article, “Man charged with dangerous driving over the death of Helena
Broadbent in Keilor Downs.” (Victoria, 2019, par. 2) The media contends that Helena had fallen
from a moving car when it drove around a corner. This depicts that Helena never had a
relationship with the criminal. But on the other hand, it contends that Helena exposed herself to
the incident. this shows that Helena does not deserve a real victim status and does not qualify for
legal protection and public sympathy. In this article, the media describes the incident as a
random and unprovoked condition. This shows that Helena’s death had no link with her husband
in any way. Hence, the article confirms that Helena was a subject to the incident. she had
exposed herself to the danger. The public would not view Helena as an ideal victim in that the
vehicle was driving around a corner which might have caused the accident. Thus, even though
she was pregnant, she suffered due to the condition that was random and not activated.
Melbourne man charged over death of a pregnant woman who fell from a moving car
Moreover, the Guardian claims in a sentence that “A man, 35, was charged on Sunday
afternoon with causing her death by driving dangerously.” (Anon., 2019, par 2)In this incident,
the sentence prompts empathy in the community view since the victim i.e. Helena could not be
blamed for the place she was. She was in her car and the husband was the driver. The legislation
is legitimate as the plight of Helena could be documented. As a victim in this circumstance, the
article proves that there exist social notions that enable one to qualify as a victim. Helena is weak
i.e. as a female figure; it fulfills Christie’s definition of an ideal victim (Bosma & Mulder, 2018,
par. 8). Second, it was during the day time and she was in the companion of her husband who

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was driving the very vehicle they had boarded. The offender was also big i.e. he was a man has
could overpower Helena.
Overall, the articles portray the ideal victim as described by Christies on the importance
of identifying victimhood. In this scenario, Helena fulfills most of the attributes for an ideal
victim. They include: being weak and vulnerable, being dependent as a victim, being a grotesque
victim and as a woman, Helen is weak and has no power hence she deserves intervention to buy
a powerful individual. Helena encounters painful death and thus calls for sympathy sine she
vulnerable, expectant and could not overcome her perpetrator thus she qualified foe legal
representation.

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References List
Anon., 2019. [online]Melbourne man charged over death of a pregnant woman who fell from a
moving car. Available at: The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/30/melbourne-man-charged-over-death-
of-a-pregnant-woman-who-fell-from-a-moving-car. Accessed 15 Apr. 2020
Ashleigh McMillan, P. S. & Papwort, T., 2019. Man charged as neighbours recall beautiful
Keilor Downs mother. Crime, [online]Volume The Age. Available at:
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/man-remains-in-custody-after-pregnant-woman-
dies-in-alleged-attack-20190929-p52vyv.html. Accessed 15 Apr. 2020.
Bosma, A. & Mulder, E. P. A., 2018. The ideal victim through other (s’) eyes. s.l.:Policy Press
Bristol.
Brittany, 2019. PICTURED: Heavily-pregnant mum, 32, who died after falling from a moving
car - as her boyfriend is arrested and her newborn baby fights for life after being delivered by
emergency C-section. [online] News. Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-
7516999/Pregnant-Melbourne-mother-dies-near-Keilor-Park-giving-birth-c-section.html.
Accessed 15 Apr. 2020.
Victoria, 2019. Man charged with dangerous driving over death of Helena Broadbent in Keilor
Downs. [online] ABC News. Available At: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-29/man-
charged-with-dangerous-driving-over-keilor-downs-death/11558158. Accessed 15 Apr. 2020