Rowan Baxter’s ‘evil’ laid bare as 10 key revelations from Hannah Clarke inquest revealed

Rowan Baxter was so intent on exacting his murderous revenge on Hannah Clarke that little could have been done to save her and their children from the cowardly killer, an inquest has been told.

Rowan Baxter was so intent on exacting his murderous revenge on Hannah Clarke for escaping their abusive marriage that little could have been done to save her and their children from the cowardly killer, a leading barrister believes.

Hannah’s parents Sue and Lloyd have asked themselves one question every day since their daughter and three grandchildren Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3, were murdered by Baxter on February 19, 2020 – why.

Hannah Clarke with Trey, Laianah and Aaliyah.

“Having heard eight days of evidence and having sifted through thousands of pages of exhibits … it’s my submission it is irreducibly simple yet irreducibly complex,” counsel assisting the coroner Jacoba Brasch QC told an inquest into their deaths. “Why? Because Baxter was evil.”

The true extent of that evil was laid bare during the almost two-week inquest into the deaths of Hannah, Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey in the Brisbane Coroner’s Court before Deputy State Coroner Jane Bentley.

Rowan Baxter buys a fuel can and zip ties at Bunnings before murdering his family.

Dr Brasch on Thursday submitted to the court that even if the right questions had been asked by police and support workers, even if Baxter had been charged with criminal offences, and even if there was a better understanding of coercive control, he was so determined to “exact his revenge” that he would have at the very least still killed Hannah.

“It was but a matter of time, such was his murderous intent,” Dr Brasch said.

As part of her findings, the coroner will assess the adequacy of interactions the family had with police and domestic violence support services and make recommendations about how the system can be improved to prevent similar atrocities in the future.

Dr Brasch and counsels for the Clarke family and for police identified a number of ways Hannah and her children were let down by services plagued by a lack of training and limited resources.

The court heard concerns about a breakdown in information-sharing between the Queensland Police’s vulnerable person units (VPU), high -risk teams and domestic ­violence support workers embedded in those teams.

Dr Brasch said she was not critical of individual staff working in those areas who were simply following protocol, but said it seemed there were issues with the system and “the right hand and the left hand don’t necessarily know what they’re doing”.

Dr Brasch submitted that more specialised training for police was crucial and expressed her concern that a victim could go through the entire process with police – including contact with the VPU – without coming into contact with a single officer with specialised training.

Dr Brasch also called for trialling of a multi-disciplinary police station where victims can access police, housing, counselling, education and child safety services.

Barrister Kylie Hillard, representing the Clarke family, submitted there had been many “circuit breaker points” and missed opportunities to prevent the murders.

“Deaths must be preventable,” Ms Hillard said.

“They are preventable.”

Ms Hillard said the inability of police to lay charges against Baxter when he abducted Laianah on Boxing Day 2019 was indicative of a need for a coercive control ­offence in Queensland.

She also raised concerns that opportunities had been missed to charge Baxter with other offences, including stalking, rape and sexual assault.

Ms Hillard submitted that Hannah had demonstrated a “clear willingness” to make police complaints about Baxter’s behaviour and the onus should not have been on her to identify or pursue charges.

She said police officers should have asked Hannah more questions.

Ms Hillard said the Clarke family supported a push for annual refresher training for police, including education of the high risk of lethality where there has been non-lethal strangulation, and in cases where the aggrieved has expressed a fear of death at the hands of the perpetrator.

The barrister said systemic failings, including failures in information-sharing, were “rife in this case”.

She said police officers and domestic violence workers involved in Hannah’s case had been “good-intentioned”.

“They clearly wanted to help her, they clearly wanted to protect her, but they didn’t understand how, they weren’t trained to do so,” Ms Hillard said.

Sue and Lloyd Clarke. Picture: Liam Kidston.

Ms Hillard said Sue and Lloyd Clarke would support the creation of emergency accommodation facilities for families fleeing domestic violence, with apartments in a ­secure complex with CCTV footage, secure carparking and security personnel stationed on site.

“If Hannah was in fact the walking dead, it’s only because of the systemic failings that didn’t save her life,” she said. “It can’t be the case that these kinds of things can’t be prevented.”

Barrister Ruth O’Gorman QC, who acted for the Queensland Police Union and a number of police officers in the inquest, proposed recommendations, including that the QPS consider creating more permanent positions within the VPU and provide specialist training for those officers. She also submitted recommendations be made for the Queensland government to consider streamlining processes for domestic violence applications and work toward improving information-sharing between jurisdictions.

Coroner Bentley concluded the inquest by paying tribute to the Clarke family.

“My condolences seem so inadequate in the face of your immense and unimaginable loss,” she said. “Everyone in this court … has been amazed at your courage.

“As a woman and a mother, I am personally grateful for your ongoing efforts (in campaigning for victims of domestic violence).”

Outside court, Sue and Lloyd said they were pleased with the submissions made and hoped any recommendations made by the coroner will help to save lives.

“Every now and then, I think a true monster is born and you can’t stop them,” Mrs Clarke said.