Police did not fail Hannah Clarke, but training overhaul needed: coroner

While police did miss some opportunities to hold Rowan Baxter to account before he set his estranged wife Hannah Clarke and their three children alight, officers could not have done more to stop the Brisbane murder that shocked the state and country, a coroner has declared.

However, a major funding injection and urgent overhaul is needed of the domestic violence training given to all Queensland police officers, especially those who specialise in domestic violence.

From left to right: Hannah Clarke (31), Laianah (4), Aaliyah (6), and Trey (3).

Deputy state coroner Jane Bentley broke down as she finished delivering her findings on Wednesday into the deaths of Hannah Clarke, 31, and her children: Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3.

They were burnt alive by her estranged husband, Rowan Baxter, 42, when he doused the inside of the family’s SUV in petrol and ignited it on Raven Street, Camp Hill, in Brisbane’s south on February 19, 2020. Baxter died on the roadside at the scene from a self-inflicted stab wound.

It was the culmination of a two-week coronial inquest in February and March.

Bentley decided it was “unlikely” police officers, domestic violence service providers, friends or family could have stopped Baxter.

“Rowan Baxter was not mentally ill, he was a master of manipulation,” she said.

“After Hannah left him, and he realised she had obtained support, and he could no longer control her ... He received funds and support from a number of friends and family members who believed his lies that Hannah was treating him badly and that he was being victimised by her.

“Baxter made numerous appointments for counselling and with doctors – all of these were designed to assist him to contest the domestic violence order application and influence the Family Court process in his favour.

“He did not have any wish to obtain counselling or address his problems; he manipulated doctors and psychologists.

“When Baxter concluded that he had totally lost control over Hannah, he killed her and her three children. Baxter understood the extent of the atrocities he had committed, he did not want to live with the public denunciation and punishment he would receive.”

Rowan Baxter.Credit: Facebook - Integr8 & CrossFit SMC

Bentley said police did miss opportunities to hold Baxter to account for his actions.

“For example, he was not charged and put on bail for the breach of the domestic violence order and assault occasioning bodily harm [10 days before the fatal fire]. Instead, he was given a notice to appear [in court],” she said.

Bentley painted a grim picture of police domestic violence training, but she acknowledged this was a focus of the police service, and was improving.

“Since 2017 there has been inadequate training provided to police officers, considering that domestic violence accounts for up to half of all of their work,” she said.

“The majority of frontline police officers who are dealing with domestic violence constantly ... had received one online refresher training program in the past five years.”

Bentley made three key recommendations.

The state government should urgently fund a five-day domestic violence training program for all specialist domestic violence support police officers.

The Queensland Police Service include in annual training a mandatory module for all officers in dealing with domestic violence face-to-face.

The state government should fund a year-long trial for a specialist domestic violence police station in the Logan or Kirwan districts, which have the most domestic violence incidents in the state. This must include domestic violence police officers, a domestic violence support worker, a child safety officer, a Department of Housing representative, a Queensland Health worker, and a lawyer.

The scene on Raven Street in Camp Hill on February 19, 2020.Credit: Toby Crockford

As Bentley again expressed her condolences to the Clarke family, who were in court, and closed the inquest, her voice wavered, and she was visibly upset as she left the courtroom.

Hannah’s parents, Sue and Lloyd Clarke, said they were happy with the coroner’s findings, but the changes were needed in every state.

“The face-to-face five-day training for domestic violence specialist officers – this is what we have been waiting for, and need,” Lloyd said.

“And with the information-sharing, that was one of the things that happened in Hannah’s case – there wasn’t enough information-sharing, or not enough easy access to it.”

Sue and Lloyd Clarke were named Queensland’s Australians of the Year in January 2022 as they fight for greater awareness of domestic violence through the Small Steps 4 Hannah Foundation.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Sue Clarke hoped Hannah would be proud of them and their work through their foundation, Small Steps 4 Hannah. She vowed to continue the “uncomfortable conversation” they had started.

“[The recommended specialist domestic violence police station is an] amazing game-changer. If women can understand what they can charge people with and what risk they are at, just all of the different services working together, I think it is just a dream,” she said.

The $3.4 million independent Commission of Inquiry into Queensland Police Service responses to domestic and family violence, initiated by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, is also ongoing.

If you or someone you know needs help or support, contact DV Connect on 1800 811 811 or 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or the Brisbane Domestic Violence Service on 07 3217 2544.