Coroner slams Qld Police Service over DV death of Doreen Langham

The daughters of Doreen Langham have shared an emotional tribute to their mum as a Queensland coroner slammed police inaction over her pleas for help before she was killed in a fire ignited by her former partner.

The daughters of domestic violence murder victim Doreen Langham have given a heartwrenching account of the toll their mum’s death has taken on the family, while praising a coroner’s report for validating their grief.

Speaking outside Southport Court after listening to Deputy State Coroner Jane Bentley deliver a stinging critique of the Queensland Police Service’s handling of Ms Langham’s plight, her daughters Shayne Probert and Tabitha Bleys said they felt justified by the ­coroner’s assessment, but that didn’t make it any easier.

“The coroner has just validated what we felt was the inadequacy of the police work from the start,” Ms Probert said.

Doreen Langham died in a fire at her Browns Plains home in February last year. Photo Supplied

Her sister said the real tragedy was that two lives might not have been lost if police had done more to stop her from dying when her unit was set on fire by her ex-partner.

“It could have been prevented and if you go through the report you will see areas where they say yes they could have done more work to save two lives,” Ms Bleys said, ­wiping away tears.

“Ours kid, her grandkids, may well one day google their grandma and they’re going to have to listen to her say those words (pleas for help) and know that she feared for her life and professionals did not take that serious enough to help her. And we’re left with the consequences of having to explain that you won’t see Grandma D.

“You can’t go to the stars and visit her.”

But she said there was no sense feeling angry over the senseless tragedy. “Who can you be angry at though? Because the person who did the crime isn’t here,” she said.

Doreen Langham’s daughters Shayne Probert and Tabitha Bleys talk to the media after a coroner handed down her findings into the Logan woman’s death. Picture: Nigel Hallet

Ms Probert said their mum would be proud to know of the role she played in forcing a raft of recommendations to protect victims of domestic violence.

“It might not be the legacy she wanted but it definitely, to be part of a change, she’d be proud of that,” said Ms Probert.

“To help other women, to help other victims, she’d be very proud.”

Doreen Langham and her ex Gary Hely, both 49, died in a fire at her Browns Plains townhouse in the early hours of February 22 last year after she made multiple pleas to police for help and finally obtained a domestic violence order against him.

An inquest held in March revealed shocking blunders by police in their response to Ms Langham’s cries for help, both on the night of her death and in the weeks leading up to the tragedy.

Doreen Langham had talked to police, including on the night she died, about her fears over her former partner. Picture: QLD Police

Delivering her findings at Southport Coroners Court on Monday, Ms Bentley slammed the QPS response as “inadequate” and called the tragedy a “systemic failure”.

She said officers involved in the case had displayed a lack of training and a lack of understanding on domestic violence protocols.

“I find that overall the response of the Queensland Police Service was inadequate…..and failed to protect her or prevent her death,” she said.

Two officers were dispatched to Ms Langham’s home several hours before the fatal fire to check on her welfare.

One of the officers told the inquest he did not research the criminal history of the alleged offender on the way to the call-out and did not inspect any rear doors or windows to see if anyone had broken into Ms Langham’s home after she didn’t answer a cursory knock on the door.

Hours later she was found dead.

Doreen Langham’s Browns Plains unit was gutted in the blaze. Picture: Tara Croser.

Ms Bentley said officers “failed to take the most basic steps’ to help protect Ms Langham and there had been “a systemic failure”.

She said there needed to be urgent reforms in the field of domestic violence and made several recommendations including funding for the trial of a specialist police station for domestic violence matters in the Logan region.

Ms Bentley said there were “numerous missed opportunities” for police in their response to Ms Langham’s pleas for help.

She found Hely had forced his way into Ms Langham’s home, though any evidence of how he did so was destroyed in the blaze.

“I am satisfied Ms Langham did not consent (to his entry),” she said.

Ms Langham’s death was from a combination of injuries to her spleen and the effects of the fire after Hely doused her in petrol and set the property alight.

Ms Bentley found Hely’s death was likely self-inflicted.

The 140-page report included two other key recommendations, namely that the State government provide funding for a DV specialist social worker to be based at the front counter of every police station in the Logan district and that officers must view a suspected perpetrator’s interstate criminal history in every DV matter.

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll has already given endorsement of the recommendations.

In the report, Commissioner Carroll admitted “our organisation does not have all the answers”.

“We need to work together, with all levels of government, non-government organisations, businesses and the community to identify and deliver sustainable, long-term an culturally appropriate solutions”,” she said.