Spit hoods continue to be used on minors while ‘alternatives’ are explored, Queensland government says

The controversial device has been used eight times on children aged between 10 and 17 since 2019

The Queensland government has confirmed it continues to use spit hoods on minors, with at least one child subjected to the controversial device this year.

Queensland police have told a budget estimates hearing that they have been exploring alternative measures, but the government would not confirm whether they will ban spit hoods or continue to use the restraints.

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Woman, 36, charged with murder after eight-year-old boy found dead in Queensland home

Police officers came across the boy’s unresponsive body during an early morning welfare check at the home in Rockhampton

A woman has been charged with murder after an eight-year-old boy was found dead in a central Queensland home.

Police officers came across the boy’s unresponsive body during an early morning welfare check at the home in Rockhampton on Saturday.

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Brisbane teenager built spyware used by domestic violence perpetrators across world, police allege

Jacob Wayne John Keen, 24, is alleged to have created hacking tool when 15 years old and sold it to more than 14,500 people

Police allege that a teenager living in the suburbs of Brisbane created and sold a sophisticated hacking tool used by domestic violence perpetrators and child sex offenders to spy on tens of thousands of people across the globe – and then used the proceeds to buy takeaway food.

Jacob Wayne John Keen, now 24, was 15 years old and living in his mother’s rental when he allegedly created a sophisticated spyware tool known as a remote access trojan (RAT) that allowed users to remotely take control of their victims’ computers.

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NSW issued 501 fines to children under 15 in past year for not wearing or carrying mask

Redfern Legal Centre says $20,000 in fines issued is ‘unjust’ and ‘sets children up for failure’

About 500 children aged under 15 were fined a total of $20,000 for not wearing or carrying a mask in New South Wales in the past 12 months, including 34 who remain in an unpaid work and development scheme to reduce their debts.

The state government has faced sustained criticism for its pursuit of children over Covid rule breaches, particularly given the confusing and shifting nature of public health orders and the disproportionate impact Covid fines are having on the most disadvantaged.

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Gordon Copeland inquest: inspector says police would not have called off search if all details were known

Senior inspector who oversaw search for drowned Gomeroi man says she did not read officer statements before attending scene

A senior inspector in charge of the search for a Gomeroi man who drowned in a river has told the inquest into his death the police search was called off before officers knew all of the details.

Inspector Helen McWilliam coordinated the search for 22-year-old Gordon Copeland, who drowned in the Gwydir River in the early hours of 10 July 2021. Police called off the search after three days, and his body was not found until authorities reopened the search three months later in October after sustained community pressure.

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Queensland police told victim her assault complaint was not ‘valid’ after speaking to perpetrator, inquiry hears

Commission of inquiry into QPS response to domestic and family violence hears from women who say police did not take them seriously

A victim-survivor was told by a Queensland police officer to focus on being a “good mother” after reporting a “significant assault” by her ex-partner, a commission of inquiry has heard.

The inquiry into Queensland police service’s (QPS) responses to domestic and family violence on Tuesday heard multiple accounts from disillusioned victims who said their complaints had not been taken seriously.

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Mother charged with murder of three children who were found dead after Port Hedland house fire

A 10-year-old girl and two boys, aged seven and five months, found dead inside a house fire in the Western Australian town on 19 July

A woman has been charged with the murder of her three children after their bodies were found in a house fire in the Western Australian town of Port Hedland.

A 10-year-old girl and two boys, aged seven and five months, were found dead inside the Anderson Street property by firefighters who responded to the blaze on 19 July.

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Woman with disability felt ‘blamed’ after reporting sexual assault to Queensland police, inquiry hears

Inquiry into QPS responses to domestic violence also hears police failed to assist in instances of elder abuse

A woman with an intellectual disability experienced “extreme mental health concerns” after reporting her sexual assault to Queensland police, who made her feel “blamed” and “judged”, an inquiry has heard.

Social worker Jacelyn Parsons said officers made no additional effort to support the woman or adapt their communication style after she disclosed her disability.

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Queensland police misidentify domestic violence victims as attackers, inquiry told

Inquiry hears no effort was made to communicate with deaf woman wrongly identified as a perpetrator

Queensland police regularly misidentify the victims of domestic violence, with a lawyer telling an inquiry that a woman was subjected to a protection order due to scratches she inflicted in self-defence when her partner was strangling her.

In another case, officers wrongly identified a deaf First Nations woman as a perpetrator despite making no effort to communicate with her, a lawyer from the Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service told the inquiry.

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Victorian spoke of wanting police to kill him before he was shot dead, inquest hears

Coroner told Gabriel Messo attacked his mother before being shot three times by a police officer in 2020

A Victorian man who was shot dead by police after violently assaulting his mother told a social worker that he wanted an officer to kill him so his pain would end, an inquest has heard.

Gabriel Messo, who had bipolar disorder, was shot in the chest three times by a police officer at John Coutts Reserve in Gladstone Park, in Melbourne’s north, on 16 July 2020.

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Police prosecutor claimed case over Black Lives Matter rally was ‘fatally flawed’, Melbourne court told

Officer who allegedly flagged the dropping of charges was not authorised to make that decision, Victoria police tell court

A Victoria police prosecutor had told lawyers for two women charged over a 2020 Black Lives Matter rally held in Melbourne that the case against them was “fatally flawed” and said charges would be withdrawn immediately, the organisers’ lawyer has told a court.

Crystal McKinnon, 41, and Meriki Onus, 34 were charged with breaching directions of Victoria’s chief health officer by planning the protest against Indigenous deaths in custody during a Covid lockdown.

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Queensland police officer minimised domestic violence despite ‘punch-sized’ bruises, inquiry hears

Inquiry told threat to decapitate a dog and ‘clear photographic evidence’ of assault on woman downplayed

A domestic violence victim was “failed” by a Queensland police officer who minimised her assault, despite clear evidence of a “punch-sized” bruise on her ribcage and allegations her partner threatened to decapitate a dog, a commission of inquiry has heard.

The inquiry into police responses to domestic and family violence also heard of instances of officers failing to switch on body-worn cameras and victims being turned away from front counters when attempting to report domestic violence.

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NSW poker machine laws may increase risk of money laundering, says crime commission

NSW Crime Commission issues paper also asks whether poker machine credit limits should be lowered

The New South Wales Crime Commission has suggested some of the state’s gambling laws have increased the risk of money laundering through poker machines, while raising the prospect of “significantly” reducing their credit limits in clubs.

This comes as anti-gambling advocates dismissed an “utterly cynical” proposal from lobby group Clubs NSW for a new “code of practice” that would allow family members of gambling addicts to request they be banned from venues.

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‘Too ugly to be raped’: Queensland inquiry hears police were dismissive of domestic violence victims

Officer gives evidence of colleagues describing rapes in intimate relationships as ‘surprise sex’, and saying they ‘deserved to be raped’

A Queensland police officer broke into tears as he told a commission of inquiry that he witnessed domestic violence victims being turned away and colleagues claiming some victims “deserved to be raped”.

The officer, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, gave evidence that he had heard colleagues make offensive remarks about victims who were raped in intimate relationships, claiming it was “surprise sex” or they “deserved to be raped”.

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Fewer than 20% of alleged breaches of Queensland domestic violence orders result in charges

Inquiry hears police lodged 50,704 applications for contraventions of orders, with 9,347 charges laid

Criminal charges have been laid in fewer than 20% of cases where Queensland police lodged an application for a contravention of a domestic violence order over the past year, a commission of inquiry has heard.

A public hearing on Monday heard police lodged 50,704 applications for contraventions of domestic violence protection orders in 2021-22, while 9,347 charges were laid for a range of domestic and family violence related criminal offences.

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Man charged after nine-year-old girl is shot and injured in Sydney

Girl suffers non-life-threatening injuries after being shot outside her home in the southern suburb of Connells Point

A man has been charged after a nine-year-old girl was shot outside a home in Sydney’s south.

The child was rushed to hospital with non-life threatening injuries as the state’s anti-bikie and organised crime squad hunted for the alleged gunman.

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Safety threats to politicians spark 39 Australian federal police investigations related to election

One set of charges laid and 22 matters still under investigation from police group set up to tackle anything from threats of violence to false information

Federal police conducted 39 investigations under a special taskforce related to the federal election, with numerous politicians and political candidates the target of threats, menacing phone calls and social media harassment.

Police laid one set of charges over threats to the former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, while police are still making inquiries around a further 22 matters that are ongoing.

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‘Is this a real rape?’: female officers detail misogynistic culture within Queensland police

Exclusive: submissions by women to inquiry describe sexist behaviour, affecting responses to domestic violence

Current and former female police officers in Queensland have detailed widespread misogynistic behaviour, sexist comments and sexual harassment by male colleagues, in submissions to a state inquiry focusing on problems with police culture.

The commission of inquiry was recommended by the state’s women’s safety and justice taskforce, which found “widespread cultural issues” affecting police responses to domestic and family violence.

References by male police officers to an area where female detectives sat as “cunt corner”

A male officer questioning “is this a real rape or is she looking for a free pap smear?”

Officers questioning the validity of a domestic violence complaint involving two police officers because the incident was the second allegation and “you’d think she’d learn the first time”

Male officers claiming a new inclusion and diversity initiative encouraging anonymous complaints had been set up “just because you chicks don’t like getting grabbed on the arse anymore”

Officers deterring women from making complaints by providing “unappealing if not terrifying” versions of court proceedings

Officers convincing domestic and family violence victims their issues were related to mental health

A male officer making comments about a female investigator that she was “a good operator until her arse got fat” and other detectives being judged based on their appearance

Promotion panels ignoring or making derogatory comments about female applications

A male commissioned officer complaining about a female subordinate being on leave suffering post-natal depression, saying “not only do I have to put up with having women in my office I have to manage this crap”

The male officer in charge of a large Brisbane police station repeatedly showing colleagues footage of a drunk young woman urinating in public

Officers giving pregnant women who are subject to domestic and family violence unwanted anti-abortion information

Officers performing “diversionary tasks” to avoid attending domestic violence calls

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NSW police accused of ‘oppressive’ tactics against subjects on secretive blacklist

Lawyers say the ‘preventive policing’ suspect target management plan, which disproportionately focuses on Indigenous youth, uses potentially unlawful tactics

The New South Wales police have been accused of using “oppressive” and potentially unlawful tactics on subjects of a secretive blacklist disproportionately used to target young Indigenous people.

Documents released under a parliamentary order have for the first time revealed how police in the state are instructed to use the suspect target management plan, or STMP, an opaque tool previously found to have utilised “unreasonable” and “unjust” tactics against its targets.

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Families of murder victims Hannah Clarke and Doreen Langham join call for specialist police stations

‘Women have had enough,’ says Prof Kerry Carrington, who has been advocating for domestic violence stations since 2015

The violent murders of Doreen Langham and Hannah Clarke by their former partners should be a wakeup call to all Australian jurisdictions to consider specialist domestic violence police stations, according to experts and family members of the victims.

A trial of specialist stations has been recommended twice this week by deputy Queensland coroner Jane Bentley, as she handed down findings from separate inquests into the murders of Langham, on Monday, and Clarke and her children – Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey – on Wednesday.

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