A woman who died in a grisly house fire south of Brisbane told police that her estranged ex-partner was outside her house but officers did not take extra steps while investigating her complaint, an inquest has been told.
Bodycam footage of police officers knocking on Doreen Langham’s front door the night before she died was played to a packed gallery at Southport Magistrates Court.
Ms Langham died in the early hours of February 22, 2021, after her ex-partner Gary Hely killed her and himself by setting fire to her Browns Plains home.
Ben Jackson, counsel assisting the coroner, opened the inquest by stating Ms Langham had been subjected to months of controlling, abusive behaviour at the hands of Hely before she ended the relationship.
He said Hely had forced his way into Ms Langham’s home early in the morning, bringing with him some five litres of petrol.
The court was told that Ms Langham had phoned triple-0 the night before she died, saying Hely was outside her house and she had seen a “shadow”.
The footage played to the court showed police knocking at the door but leaving shortly after, making no other investigations.
One of the officers who attended gave evidence he tried looking through a window to see if Ms Langham was home and if there was any movement in the house.
Mr Jackson grilled the officer why he made no attempts to investigate further.
“I’m not sure,” the officer answered.
“Would you agree this is pretty basic policing?” Mr Jackson asked.
The officer answered: “Yes.”
The officer gave evidence that he was still learning his domestic violence training “on the go”.
He told the court that he attended an urgent “code 2” domestic violence incident that same night, while Ms Langham’s complaint was designated “code 3” – a degree of lesser importance.
More bodycam footage was played to the court, showing the same officer serving a domestic violence order on Hely 10 days before Ms Langham died.
Hely can be heard saying he is “shocked” and Ms Langham “never had to fear for her safety”.
He still accepted the order, which required no contact with Ms Langham.
“So when you went to her house, did you have any memory you’d served this document on Gary Hely?” Mr Jackson asked.
“No,” the officer answered, saying police might serve numerous domestic violence orders in a day.
Emotional scenes unfolded at Southport Magistrates Court on Monday as a police officer involved in the investigation broke down while giving evidence.
The officer told the court that she did not ask Ms Langham if she was fearful and relied “too much on her demeanour” when she first interviewed her.
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