Ian Brookfield’s case against Bundaberg police thrown out of Qld Court
A regional Qld businessman who accused police of unlawful arrest and conspiracy has lost his claim against them, with the Supreme Court revealing extraordinary new details about his behaviour in another civil matter.
Police & Courts
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A Bundaberg businessman who had a string of charges against him including using a carriage service to harass, fraud, perjury, stalking, and harassment dropped has had his own claim against the arresting police thrown out.
Ian Walter Brookfield sued police in the Supreme Court in 2022 accusing them of unlawful arrest, misfeasance in public office, conspiracy, intimidation, and perverting the course of justice over the arrests which occurred between May 2019 and October 2021.
The arrests and charges were laid amid concern over Mr Brookfield’s behaviour during a prolonged civil battle with another real estate agent, Mark Mergard, over a debt he alleged he was owed.
The alleged debt stemmed from an agreement by Mr Mergard’s real estate agency, Real Estate Now, to purchase to a rent roll from another agency owned by a friend of Mr Brookfield’s, Blue Prop.
Mr Brookfield then launched civil action against Mr Mergard.
A published decision by Justice Sean Cooper revealed Mr Brookfield proceeded to write dozens of emails, text messages and Facebook posts accusing Mr Mergard and his wife, Katrina of crimes.
The messages were sent not only to Mr Mergard, but his family, staff and business associates.
Details of the extensive campaign against Mr Mergard were contained in a hard drive handed by Mr Mergard to police in May 2019, the judgement says.
It included 43 emails sent by Mr Brookfield to the Mergards between April 2016 and October 2018, six emails to the Mergards’ staff between July 2016 and November 2018, and nine Facebook posts between August 2017 and April 2018.
Mr Brookfield’s messages included emails of allegations of fraudulent behaviour by Mr Mergard, including accusing him of being “one of the biggest crooks in town”, telling Mr Mergard he should “spend less time being a crook and pay your bills”, and accusing him of infidelity.
One September 2016 email, sent to several people including a Gladstone Observer journalist, spoke about how “a local theatre company are going to do a play” about the Mergards.
“It’s about how they are delusional about their plans for a tour operation and how they have left a trail of people they owe money too [sic], it’s basically a comedy!!,” Mr Brookfield wrote.
In another email, sent to a solicitor for Mr Mergard in January 2019, Mr Brookfield “referred to Mr Mergard’s every move being monitored across the region by those who have an interest in seeing justice done”.
A Facebook post made only days before Christmas 2017 Mr Brookfield wrote “To my special friends, enjoy this Christmas with your loved ones because next year [sic] one will be in Gaol”.
“Merry Christmas from Karma!!,” Mr Brookfield wrote.
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The extent of the communications led to police arresting Mr Brookfield on four occasions between 2019 and 2021, the judgement says.
All of the charges except one count of failure to appear were ultimately dismissed.
Mr Brookfield was given no punishment and no conviction was recorded for this offence.
In June 2019 Mr Mergard pleaded guilty at Bundaberg Magistrates Court to three counts of dishonestly converting money from a property sale.
Mr Mergard was fined $18,000, ordered to pay prosecution costs of $1500, plus a $96.15 court fee.
No conviction was recorded and Mergard lost his real estate licence for five years.
Mrs Mergard is not accused of any wrongdoing.
It was at this sentencing Mr Brookfield was arrested for breaching his bail, which included a restriction him from coming within 50m of the Mergards unless it was for a court matter.
The bail charge was dismissed in the Bundaberg Magistrates Court in September 2020 after police did not offer any evidence.
It was in the wake of these arrests and subsequent dropping of charges Mr Brookfield sued police seeking damages of more than $750,000.
On Friday his case was thrown out.
Justice Cooper found the arrests and imprisonments during this time were all lawful saying at the times the officers reasonably held a suspicion Mr Brookfield had committed the offences he was charged with.
Police were cleared of claims they conducted malicious prosecution of Mr Brookfield, too.
Justice Cooper found it “would have been plainly open to a jury” to potentially find against Mr Brookfield on the charges.
In his judgment, Judge Cooper was aware his findings differed from Acting Magistrate John Milburn at a committal hearing in October 2021 for the carriage service and stalking charges.
He “respectfully disagreed” with Mr Milburn’s finding that a jury “would have been compelled to conclude that the communications … amounted to nothing more than robust commercial communications’.
Mr Brookfield failed to provide any evidence to support his allegations of conspiracy between police and Mr Mergard.
Justice Cooper said the matter of costs for the claim would be heard at a later date.
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