London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jan 10, 2026

Murders spark calls for landmark police trial in Australia

Murders spark calls for landmark police trial in Australia

A landmark trial of a specialist domestic violence police station has been recommended by a coroner after two murders that shocked Australia.
Hannah Clarke, and her children, and Doreen Langham were burned to death by their ex-partners in Queensland.

Magistrate Jane Bentley this week found authorities missed or ignored signs that both women would be killed.

The trial was among several recommendations she made to improve responses to domestic violence.

Magistrate Bentley said the new model police station should have specialist police officers, support workers, a child safety officer and a lawyer to provide legal advice to police and victims.

Such police stations in countries like Brazil and India have reduced the female homicide rate, she noted, citing expert evidence given at one of the inquests.

Other recommendations included better training for police and government funding for men's behavior change programs.

Rowan Baxter ambushed Hannah Clarke and the couple's children in Brisbane in February 2020, dousing them in petrol and setting their car alight before killing himself.

The three children - Aaliyah aged six, Laianah, four, and Trey, three - died in the car.

Ms Clarke, who had suffered severe burns to everything but the soles of her feet, died in hospital hours later.

The 31-year-old had separated from Baxter in the months before the murders, and had repeatedly sought police help over domestic violence, securing court orders.

Her family have told how Baxter became increasingly verbally abusive and controlling - dictating what she wore and monitoring where she went - towards the end of the relationship.

On Wednesday Magistrate Bentley concluded all the agencies that dealt with the increasingly scared woman had failed to recognise the "extreme risk" she would be killed.

"That failure probably came about because Baxter had not been violent and had no relevant criminal history," she said.

But even if authorities had realized the risk, she said it was "unlikely" they could have stopped Baxter from "executing his murderous plans".

"He was not mentally ill, he was a master of manipulation," she said.

"Her fears were genuine and realistic and ultimately confirmed in the very worst way."

She noted a missed opportunity to charge Baxter after he breached a domestic violence order, but found that the support Ms Clarke was given was, overall, "adequate and appropriate".

It was a different story for Ms Langham.

Magistrate Bentley on Monday found police "failed to take even the most basic steps" to protect the 49-year-old from ex-partner Gary Hely.

She died in a house fire lit by Hely in February 2021, despite contact with 16 different police officers, telling them how he had broken into her home, threatened her life and was harassing her on the phone.

The inquest earlier this year heard the man had a "significant" history of domestic violence interstate and had breached protective orders several times in the weeks before the fire.

Magistrate Bentley said there were countless opportunities for intervention.

"The police officers failed to protect her and prevent her death," she said.

"If all complaints had been dealt with properly Hely would likely not have killed Ms Langham and himself."

The Queensland attorney-general has said the government will carefully consider all the coroner's recommendations and respond soon.

But Ms Clarke's parents hope other states adopt them too.

On average, one Australian woman is murdered every nine days by a current or former partner and police respond to a domestic violence call every two minutes.

"It's not just a Queensland problem," Ms Clarke said, speaking after the inquest closed.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Russia Deploys Hypersonic Missile in Strike on Ukraine
OpenAI and SoftBank Commit One Billion Dollars to Energy and Data Centre Supplier
UK Prime Minister Starmer Reaffirms Support for Danish Sovereignty Over Greenland Amid U.S. Pressure
UK Support Bolsters U.S. Seizure of Russian-Flagged Tanker Marinera in Atlantic Strike on Sanctions Evasion
The Claim That Maduro’s Capture and Trial Violate International Law Is Either Legally Illiterate—or Deliberately Deceptive
UK Data Watchdog Probes Elon Musk’s X Over AI-Generated Grok Images Amid Surge in Non-Consensual Outputs
Prince Harry to Return to UK for Court Hearing Without Plans to Meet King Charles III
UK Confirms Support for US Seizure of Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker in North Atlantic
Béla Tarr, Visionary Hungarian Filmmaker, Dies at Seventy After Long Illness
UK and France Pledge Military Hubs Across Ukraine in Post-Ceasefire Security Plan
Prince Harry Poised to Regain UK Security Cover, Clearing Way for Family Visits
UK Junk Food Advertising Ban Faces Major Loophole Allowing Brand-Only Promotions
Maduro’s Arrest Without The Hague Tests International Law—and Trump’s Willingness to Break It
German Intelligence Secretly Intercepted Obama’s Air Force One Communications
The U.S. State Department’s account in Persian: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know it until now, now you do—do not play games with President Trump.”
Fake Mainstream Media Double Standard: Elon Musk Versus Mamdani
HSBC Leads 2026 Mortgage Rate Cuts as UK Lending Costs Ease
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Outlines How Operation Absolute Resolve Was Carried Out in Venezuela
Starmer Welcomes End of Maduro Era While Stressing International Law and UK Non-Involvement
Korean Beauty Turns Viral Skincare Into a Global Export Engine
UK Confirms Non-Involvement in U.S. Military Action Against Venezuela
UK Terror Watchdog Calls for Australian-Style Social Media Ban to Protect Teenagers
Iranian Protests Intensify as Another Revolutionary Guard Member Is Killed and Khamenei Blames the West
Delta Force Identified as Unit Behind U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s President
Europe’s Luxury Sanctions Punish Russian Consumers While a Sanctions-Circumvention Industry Thrives
Berkshire’s Buffett-to-Abel Transition Tests Whether a One-Man Trust Model Can Survive as a System
Fraud in European Central Bank: Lagarde’s Hidden Pay Premium Exposes a Transparency Crisis at the European Central Bank
Trump Announces U.S. Large-Scale Strike on Venezuela, Declares President Maduro and Wife Captured
Tesla Loses EV Crown to China’s BYD After Annual Deliveries Decline in 2025
UK Manufacturing Growth Reaches 15-Month Peak as Output and Orders Improve in December
Beijing Threatened to Scrap UK–China Trade Talks After British Minister’s Taiwan Visit
Newly Released Files Reveal Tony Blair Pressured Officials Over Iraq Death Case Involving UK Soldiers
Top Stocks and Themes to Watch in 2026 as Markets Enter New Year with Fresh Momentum
No UK Curfew Ordered as Deepfake TikTok Falsely Attributes Decree to Prime Minister Starmer
Europe’s Largest Defence Groups Set to Return Nearly Five Billion Dollars to Shareholders in Twenty Twenty-Five
Abu Dhabi ‘Capital of Capital’: How Abu Dhabi Rose as a Sovereign Wealth Power
Diamonds Are Powering a New Quantum Revolution
Trump Threatens Strikes Against Iran if Nuclear Programme Is Restarted
Apple Escalates Legal Fight by Appealing £1.5 Billion UK Ruling Over App Store Fees
UK Debt Levels Sit Mid-Range Among Advanced Economies Despite Rising Pressures
UK Plans Royal Diplomacy with King Charles and Prince William to Reinvigorate Trade Talks with US
King Charles and Prince William Poised for Separate 2026 US Visits to Reinforce UK-US Trade and Diplomatic Ties
Apple Moves to Appeal UK Ruling Ordering £1.5 Billion in Customer Overcharge Damages
King Charles’s 2025 Christmas Message Tops UK Television Ratings on Christmas Day
The Battle Over the Internet Explodes: The United States Bars European Officials and Ignites a Diplomatic Crisis
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Join Royal Family at Sandringham Christmas Service
Fine Wine Investors Find Little Cheer in Third Year of Falls
UK Mortgage Rates Edge Lower as Bank of England Base Rate Cut Filters Through Lending Market
U.S. Supermarket Gives Customers Free Groceries for Christmas After Computer Glitch
Air India ‘Finds’ a Plane That Vanished 13 Years Ago
×