Hervey Bay father fined for obstructing police in child safety incident
An unrepentant Qld dad reckons police officers “got away pretty easy” after a dangerous clash during the removal of his children.
A distraught father who clashed with police when his three children were being removed from his care attempted to put himself and two officers who had arrested him in the path of a moving vehicle, a court has heard.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to two counts of obstructing a police officer when he faced Hervey Bay Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Police prosecutor Louise McConnell said on August 5, 2025, police went to a house in Hervey Bay to assist child safety officers in executing a temporary assessment order on the 40-year-old defendant to remove three children from his care.
The department officers told police that when they had attended the home earlier in the day to attempt to form a safety plan, he warned them “I’ll be dead before you take the kids”.
When police arrived, they were met by the man in a walkway between a door to the dwelling and the garage, Ms McConnell.
The man asked the officers if they had come to take the kids.
The child safety officers asked if he would come and have a chat, to which he had replied “f*** off”, Ms McConnell said.
The man then lunged towards one of the officers in the doorway before entering the dwelling briefly.
He was warned that his behaviour would play a part in the outcome of the assessment order.
Ms McConnell said the man exited the home and walked towards the child safety officers on the lawn.
After a brief interaction with the officers, the man attempted to push past police to enter the dwelling.
Because of the earlier threats to his own life, police attempted to prevent him from re-entering the home out of concern he would lock himself in the house, the court heard.
The man then told officers he would self-harm and he was told he was being detained for an emergency examination.
He continued to passively resist police who were attempting to move him to the front lawn, Ms McConnell said, and he was warned he was obstructing police and that he would be arrested.
The man went from passive resistance to grabbing onto open screen and glass sliding doors in the dwelling, attempting to pull himself inside, Ms McConnell said.
Police saw inside the door was a bench with a large kitchen knife on the bench.
He struggled to get back inside the home with such force that he caused the screen and glass doors to come off their tracks, Mr McConnell said.
The man was eventually taken to the front lawn where he continued to resist police until he was taken to the ground and restrained.
He was told he was under arrest and the man said he did not mean he was going to kill himself, he had just said that in a state of hyped emotions.
But when other police crews arrived to assist and officers were walking him across the road to a suitable vehicle, the man attempted to drag himself and two officers into the path of a car travelling on that road.
It took police “considerable effort” to prevent the man from entering the path of the oncoming vehicle, Ms McConnell said.
At the watch-house he was questioned about his mental health, but he said he was something he’d said as an emotional outburst at the thought of his kids being taken away.
He said he did not have any thoughts of self-harm.
The man, who was representing himself, told Magistrate Trinity McGarvie “it could have been worse, I could have stepped it up a little, I reckon they got away pretty easy”.
“You take my kids, what do you expect?” he said.
Ms McGarvie said making that submission indicated he did not feel contrition for the way he behaved towards police that day.
“I was p**sed off, you know what I mean,” he said.
“But the police officers were just doing their job and that's a very difficult job to do,” Ms McGarvie said.
“You made it far more difficult, and you put them at risk of harm.”
“They put themselves at risk of harm,” the man replied.
“Because all I wanted to do was say goodbye to my kids and they wouldn’t let me.
“So that’s why I went off.”
Ms McGarvie said there had been an intervention undertaken on the day of the incident and police had been there to perform a difficult and important job.
She said the officers had also been concerned about the man’s wellbeing.
“For them to be obstructed in the way that you did on this occasion, for you to try to pull those officers towards a vehicle, is a serious example of obstruction.”
The man was fined $1500 and a conviction was recorded.
