Police conduct hours before deadly townhouse fire incident to be reviewed

One of Queensland’s top cops will spearhead an investigation into police conduct hours before the death of a woman at a burned Logan townhouse where two bodies were found.

Two bodies, believed to be Doreen Langham and her former partner Gary Hely, were found in the remains of Ms Langham’s home in Browns Plains on Monday, as police investigate domestic violence links.

A coronial investigation, which will consider the police response to the incident, will also be done.

Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski, who became one of the Queensland Police Service’s most prominent public faces during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been tapped to lead the police investigation.

Mr Gollschewski will consider the history of police interaction in the incident and will establish a timeline of when police spoke with Ms Langham.

He said there was also a focus on the call made on Sunday night.

Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said most Greater Brisbane residents were following the rules.Credit: Jono Searle/Getty Images

“I can say with certainty that I am confident that the response on that night was as it should have been based on the information that was available at that time,” he said.

“But the question we have, of course, is what other information is available and what other information was in our system and indeed in any other systems across the nation that may have assisted us to make other decisions on that night.”

Mr Gollschewski said the Logan district had one of the state’s worst records when it came to domestic and family violence cases.

“Despite Not Now, Not Ever, despite what we’ve learnt and seen in other instances such as Tara Brown and Hannah Clarke and her children, here we are again, where a person who is a victim of violence has needed to be protected and we have not been able to protect her,” he said.

“We are not satisfied with that and we will be relentless in trying to find out what happened and make sure this type of thing does not happen.”

Owing to the coronial investigation, Mr Gollschewski would not answer specific questions relating to what police knew about Ms Langham and the domestic violence history.

Logan Chief Superintendent Brian Swan said the examination of the scene had been finalised and Mr Hely’s vehicle, which was found at a nearby shopping precinct, was returned to his family.

Superintendent Swan said police had doorknocked the area and CCTV from surrounding streets was being reviewed.

“We continue to put together evidence for the coroner to consider and we also wish to reiterate our appeal for any person with any information about Doreen and Gary and their relationship to contact police,” he said.