Suspended AFP employee Daniel Jones applied for bail over dishonesty charges

Tales of a horrid garbage stench, threats and protective custody on remand in Canberra’s jail have been the reality for a suspended Australian Federal Police employee.

Daniel Robert David Jones leaving the ACT Magistrates Court after being granted bail on February 12, 2024. Picture: Sam Turner

A suspended Australian Federal Police employee has been released on bail after spending several weeks in protective custody while under threat by other inmates due to his employment.

ACT Magistrates Court heard on Monday that Daniel Robert David Jones, 30, was placed in segregation for his own protection in the Alexander Maconochie Centre inmates after being refused bail in mid-January on dishonesty offences.

The former Gordon man was charged with giving false or misleading information in an application and intentionally making a false statement in a statutory declaration after his home was raided on December 12, 2023.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Daniel Robert David Jones was suspended from the AFP after being charged.

Jones was suspended from duties and faced court on December 12, 2023, however had his bail revoked for allegedly breaching his conditions on January 18.

In court on Monday, defence lawyer Peter Woodhouse pushed for the suspended AFP employee’s conditional release, claiming the alleged bail breaches were not nefarious.

Police allege Jones breached his bail by contacting a prosecution witnesses to return her key and beeped his horn while going past her house in Gordon.

Mr Woodhouse said there was no allegation he tried to persuade her evidence or interfere in the investigation on the first alleged breach, while the horn incident was done “stupidly” by Jones.

The leading defence lawyer said the former Gordon man spent more than three weeks on remand in the Crisis Support Unit of the AMC, commonly reserved for those who were a danger to themselves.

Jones has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Jones’ lawyer said the 30-year-old was instead placed there to be protected from other inmates and was in “complete segregation” with very little interactions with other detainees.

Mr Woodhouse said Jones’ employment with the AFP was widely published when he was taken into custody which created a “particularly unpleasant” time in jail.

He reiterated Jones was not a police officer but an AFP protective services officer.

The court heard while being from one cell to another, some inmates yelled out out to Jones “we know you’re a cop” and that he was a “f---ing pig”.

The defence lawyer said Jones was stuck in a 3m by 2.5m cell for the entire day and had no other opportunities afforded to him like the library, gym exercise and education.

Jones only had a small outside area surrounded by a metal cage, 2.5m by 2.5m, but it overwhelmingly smelt like garbage.

The prosecution alleged Jones still had ties to the southern ACT suburb of Gordon and there was a temptation he could return and possibly interfere with the investigation.

Magistrate Glenn Theakston granted Jones bail on strict conditions, including to live in a rural part of the territory with other relatives and to not enter to the suburb of Gordon.

The AFP released a statement regarding Jones’ arrest in December last year and said they were “committed to transparency”, despite not providing his gender and age when asked by media.