Angry ambulance worker threw brick at son-in-law then chased him down the street, police allege

A Wavell Heights mother-in-law picking up grandchildren denied the charge in court, claiming she was not capable of holding a brick.

A 62-year-old ambulance worker from Brisbane’s north is alleged to have thrown a brick at her son-in-law, causing an injury so severe he was unable to walk for weeks, the Caboolture Magistrates Court heard this week.

Police allege Anne Marie Winlaw, an operations co-ordinator for the Queensland Ambulance Service, was attempting to pick up her grandchildren from Brendan Lee Foots in Morayfield on September 22, 2019 when she became aggravated, jumped out of the car, and launched a brick at him.

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Both parties concede Ms Winlaw then chased him down the street.

Ms Winlaw, from Wavell Heights, is charged with assault occasioning bodily harm and entered a plea of not guilty during the hearing on Tuesday.

Anne Marie Winlaw faces a single charge of assault occasioning bodily harm.

Phone footage, taken by Mr Foots and tendered by the court, allegedly shows Ms Winlaw emerging from the car with the brick, holding it above her head, then throwing it at the alleged victim.

When confronted with the footage during police questioning, the court heard Ms Winlaw denied the object in her hands was a brick.

“If anything … it would be a McDonald’s packet or something,” she told senior constable Liam Devlin in an interview recording tended by the court.

“I couldn’t pick up a brick.

“I swear on a thousand bibles I did not.”

The alleged victim in the case, Brendan Lee Foots, claimed his leg was so swollen and injured he was unable to walk for two weeks.

The lawyer for the defence told the court Ms Winlaw tripped over the gravel and the mountable kerb, a movement which could have been mistaken for an attempted throw.

Mr Foots took several photos of an injury on his right calf, which was allegedly caused by the impact of the brick.

The photos, shown in court, depicted a cut and bloodied leg.

Ms Winlaw told Cst Devlin she had seen the photos, because Mr Foots had posted them on Facebook, and believed they were inconsistent with the injuries a person would sustain from a brick.

“To me … it looked like you’d cut your knee yourself,” she said in the recording.

An affidavit signed by a doctor substantiated Mr Foots’ claims.

The court heard Ms Winlaw jumped out of the car to protect her daughter, Mr Foots’ ex-wife, when Mr Foots allegedly stood over her and called her names.

“This person has been terrorising my daughter and my family for years,” Ms Winlaw said in the recording, played in court, between sobs.

“As a mother I’m going to try to protect my child,” she said in an earlier recording at the Hendra police station which was shown at court.

Mr Foots told the court he considered his former in-laws were the ones terrorising him, and that he always recorded the interactions during handovers as he feared stories would be made up about him.

The case was adjourned until December 1.