Police ordered to pay costs after Tin Can Bay incident

The treatment of a woman by two male police officers after a fraught incident near Gympie has cost the service almost $2000 in costs, invoked the ire of the magistrate and triggered an internal review.

The Queensland Police Service has launched an internal review and been ordered to pay costs in a matter where police failed to properly consider potential domestic violence when attending to a woman after a car accident at Tin Can Bay.

The Queensland Police Service has launched an internal review and been ordered to pay costs after failing to properly consider potential domestic violence when attending to a woman after a car accident at Tin Can Bay on the Cooloola Coast.

An article written by Sally Crosswell in the Queensland Law Society Proctor said Angela Gay Gauld was awarded the $1850 cost of having to defend two driving charges when she faced Gympie Magistrates Court on Tuesday, March 11.

It said the charges, which were dismissed after police offered no evidence, related to an incident in Tin Can Bay in 2024.

Magistrate Bevan Hughes said a soaked Ms Gauld was already distraught when she was questioned by police on a boat in Tin Can Bay wharf on the night of July 15, having been in a car accident.

The Queensland Police Service has been ordered to pay costs in a matter where Gympie region officers failed to properly consider potential domestic violence when attending to a woman after a car accident at Tin Can Bay.

“The two male officers did not provide her with a blanket as requested, nor did they address her concerns about her torn clothing, when they escorted her from the vessel,” he said.

Ms Gauld was then ordered into a police car without being charged or under arrest, being told she “did not have any choice” when she resisted.

Ms Gauld told the officers she was cold and wanted a blanket and her phone.

The officers assured her they would get these for her. They never did, Mr Hughes said.

An officer returned to the boat and questioned Ms Gauld’s partner, who told them Ms Gauld had jumped into the water to get on his boat.

The officers then had a conversation in the front of the police car.

The Queensland Police Service has been ordered to pay costs in a matter where Gympie region officers failed to properly consider potential domestic violence when attending to a woman after a car accident at Tin Can Bay.

They noted that Ms Gauld made a claim about her partner.

One of the officers then said to ‘put her on the bag and we’ll take it from there’. They also decided to question Ms Gauld about the phone to ‘find out what’s on it’.

At the station, a barefoot, cold and crying Ms Gauld again requested her phone – also telling police she was scared.

She also informed police she did not ‘jump’ into the water.

Mr Hughes said the law identified a woman as particularly vulnerable to domestic violence.

Gympie Magistrate Bevan Hughes said “Ms Gauld specifically asked police to get her phone to ‘see the evidence’. She exhorted them to. Yet they did not. That was a failure to take steps to investigate matters coming to, or within, the knowledge of a person responsible for bringing or continuing the proceeding. The investigation was flawed from the start.”

He said that “when police arrived at the scene, Ms Gauld was cold, wet and highly distressed. She was on her partner’s boat pleading for support. Her pants were torn. She had fallen into the water. She gave an explanation that could have been referable to being a victim of – or attempting to escape from – domestic violence.

“Ms Gauld continued to request her phone, suggesting to police it contained relevant evidence. Yet police dismissed her request based on an outdated and debunked assessment from their perception of her emotional state when compared with her male partner: ‘I understand if we need the phone we can go get it. But at the moment, he’s calm; she’s not’.”

Mr Hughes said the dismissive attitude toward Ms Gauld’s request for her phone and her suggestions of domestic violence continued at the station.

“Her concerns were neither acknowledged nor addressed. She had been in an accident. Apart from being given a towel, her requests for a blanket and her phone were ignored. She was then berated, before being arrested and charged,” he said.

The Queensland Police Service has launched an internal review and been ordered to pay costs in a matter where police failed to properly consider potential domestic violence when attending to a woman after a car accident at Tin Can Bay.

“Police failed to properly consider indicia of domestic violence towards Ms Gauld when at the scene, when taking her to the police station and when questioning her at the police station.

“Ms Gauld specifically asked police to get her phone to ‘see the evidence’. She exhorted them to. Yet they did not. That was a failure to take steps to investigate matters coming to, or within, the knowledge of a person responsible for bringing or continuing the proceeding. The investigation was flawed from the start.

“By not properly regarding Ms Gauld’s legitimate interests as a potential victim of domestic violence, the investigation failed to ‘meet the moment’.”

A QPS spokesperson said on Friday “Queensland Police are aware of the matter and are conducting an internal review. No further information is available at this time.”

- Thanks to Queensland Law Society Proctor and journalist Sally Crosswell