Daniel Jacob Hansen pleads guilty at Gympie, Qld, to assaulting police

An axe-wielding former concreter held a knife under a teen’s chin and ended up in an armed stand-off with Qld police drawing their guns.

Tomahawk axe. generic.

A missing $500 was behind an extraordinary attack by a Gympie father of four who threatened a teenager with a tomahawk and knife and then tried to get police to shoot him in a stand-off.

Daniel Jacob Hansen faced Gympie Magistrates Court Tuesday over the July 27, 2024 incident which ended with two police officers drawing their guns on him after attempts to taser the 34-year-old failed.

Police prosecutor Allison Johnston said Hansen initially attacked the youth while he was playing video games in his caravan.

She said Hansen pressed his elbow across the boy’s chest and put the knife to his chin, saying “I want my money”.

The boy told him he did not have his money and did not know what Hansen was on about, to which the 34-year-old responded, “don’t lie to me you little c***”.

An allegedly stolen $500 was behind an extraordinary attack by a Gympie father of four who threatened a teenager with a tomahawk and knife, and then tried to get police to shoot him in a stand-off.

The teen’s mother then arrived at the caravan and evicted Hansen, yelling “get the f*** off my child”.

The court heard police then tracked Hansen down to his own place, at which point he confronted them while still armed with the tomahawk.

Sgt Johnston said one of the officers twice tried to taser the 34-year-old but the weapon failed to connect, leaving them with no choice but to instead draw their guns as the stand-off continued.

During the stand-off Hansen repeatedly asked police to shoot him “between the eyes” yelling he had “nothing left to live for”, Sgt Johnston said.

The court heard it finally ended when Hansen threw the tomahawk backwards over his head and onto the roof of his home and officers used capsicum spray on him.

Sgt Johnston said a victim impact statement tendered to the court from one of the officers revealed he still suffered long-term psychological impacts as a result of being forced to train his weapon on Hansen during the stand-off.
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Police prosecutor Allison Johnston said one of the officers twice tried to taser the 34-year-old but the weapon failed to connect, leaving them with no choice but to instead draw their guns as the stand-off continued. Photo: Rob Wright / The Coffs Coast Advocate

Defence lawyers Christie Mahoney said her client had launched the attack over the unsubstantiated belief the boy had stolen $500 from him.

Hansen had worked for a time as a concreter and then on the staff of popular Rainbow Beach restaurant The Deck @ Sea Salt but had given these up to care for his wife full time after she was diagnosed with brain cancer, Ms Mahoney said.

She had unsuccessfully tried to persuade him to forget about the missing money and move on.

Ms Mahoney said Hansen had started to abuse prescription medication which did not belong to him in the lead-up to his offending, and he did not physically harm either of the officers during the stand-off.

“The intention was, if he made the situation threatening enough, that they would … shoot him,” Ms Mahoney said.

“It was a distressing incident for all involved.”

He had no previous history of violence, the court heard.

Hansen pleaded guilty at Gympie District Court to breaking-and-entering while armed, and two counts of serious assault of a police officer.

Magistrate Bevan Hughes said he was not only concerned with how fast it took for Hansen to “escalate” with a “rapid ascent to violence” but also “how slow it was” to come back down, “all over a perceived grievance” given his own wife and armed police were not enough to make him immediately stop.

“Your wife wasn’t enough to get through to you, the fact it was a child wasn’t enough to get through to you, two police arrived (and) having to use their tasers twice, draw their firearms and use capsicum, none of it was enough,” Mr Hughes said.

“That’s what worries me.”

Hansen pleaded guilty to breaking-and-entering while armed, and two counts of serious assault of a police officer.

Mr Hughes sentenced him to two years and two months’ jail with immediate parole release.

He did not order any compensation be paid as it would “set (Hansen) up to fail” given the costs he was facing as a result of his wife’s cancer battle.

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Originally published as Daniel Jacob Hansen pleads guilty at Gympie, Qld, to assaulting police