FULL LIST: Queensland police officers who broke the law
From violent acts and abuse of power to those who simply pushed the limits of their privilege too far, these Queensland cops put their careers on the line when they found themselves on the wrong side of the law. Read the full list.
Police & Courts
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As trusted protectors of our communities, police officers are expected to uphold the same laws they regulate.
However, the individuals on this list betrayed the community’s trust by straying from that expectation.
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said in her introduction to the QPS Integrity Framework that “our most valuable asset in policing this state is our reputation and the confidence and trust that inspires in the community”.
Police Minister Mark Ryan announced proposed changes to the state’s legislation last October that would result in officers being immediately dismissed if sentenced to imprisonment.
“This contrasts with the current position where a police officer may be imprisoned in jail but not dismissed from the Queensland Police Service until all criminal appeals have ended and a police disciplinary investigation is finalised,” he explained.
“For people who do the wrong thing, there is no place for them being in the Queensland Police Service.”
“This amendment will avoid the unacceptable situation where a sentenced and imprisoned police officer who has chosen not to resign from the Queensland Police Service continues to be employed until all criminal appeals have expired and the police disciplinary process orders their eventual dismissal.”
Read the full list of Queensland cops who found themselves on the wrong side of the law:
CONVICTIONS RECORDED
MATTHEW HOCKLEY: BRISBANE
An ex-child protection cop “betrayed his oath” by grooming a teenage girl he met through an investigation.
Matthew Paul Hockley had been working as a senior constable at the Inala child protection and investigation unit at the time.
The court heard Hockley had added a student on Snapchat after they met through an investigation into nude photos circulating at her school.
They then exchanged more than 1000 messages over three weeks, in which he made inappropriate comments including saying her “a-- should be worshipped”.
Hockley was found guilty at trial of grooming a child under 16 and using electronic communication to procure a child under 16.
Judge Bernard Porter said Hockley’s offending struck “at the heart of the confidence of the public and the complainant in the police service”.
“The mere fact that a person who is a sworn officer would engage in this conduct is abhorrent.”
Hockley was sentenced to two years jail, with parole eligibility after he served eight months.
BENJAMIN PRICE: WHITSUNDAYS
The actions of Benjamin Thomas Prince rocked the Whitsunday police department in the late 2000s – with multiple officers resigning during the fallout.
Price was sentenced to 27 months in jail in 2010 for four counts of assault which occurred while he was working as a Senior Constable at Airlie Beach in 2007 and 2008.
QPS stated at the time that five officers had resigned over the incidents and that at least three more would face disciplinary action.
They released footage following the sentencing which showed Price pulling a woman off the ground by her hair and twisting her arms.
Another video showed Price shoving a running hose down a man’s throat, after the hose was allegedly passed to him by another officer.
Price attempted to appeal his sentence in 2011, but the appeal was refused.
In 2019, the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal found Senior Sergeant Anthony William Lee had engaged in corrupt conduct by recommending Price be exonerated at the time.
Sgt Lee made a failed attempt to overturn the finding in 2020, at which time he remained employed with the Queensland Police Service.
NEIL PUNCHARD: BRISBANE
Former Senior Constable Neil Glen Punchard received a suspended jail sentence in 2019 after he leaked a DV victim’s address to her former partner.
In what the court heard was a “complete breach of trust”, Punchard disclosed personal information about her to the former partner over a one-year period from 2013.
The former partner had been a long-time friend of Punchard’s, and Punchard even went so far as to advise him on what to say to the woman.
In his messages to the former partner, Punchard said: “Just tell her you know where she lives and leave it at that. Lol she will flip”.
Punchard pleaded guilty to nine counts of using a restricted computer and was sentenced to two months jail, wholly suspended.
Punchard successfully appealed the sentence in 2020 and was re-sentenced to 140 hours of community service – but his original jail sentence was reinstated by the Court of Appeal in 2021.
He remained suspended from service at that time and has since resigned.
COLIN RANDALL: REDLANDS
Former Wynnum Police Station officer Colin David Randall was sentenced to nine years jail in 2018 for the “sickening” attack that killed his 10-week-old son.
The former Senior Constable had been alone with his son at his Victoria Point home, after his wife and older daughter went to the shops.
The court heard he punched the baby in the stomach and “pulped” his liver because he was “frustrated”.
Randall lied for years before eventually pleading guilty to manslaughter – saying his son had died after Randall incorrectly applied CPR.
The court heard Randall had previously been expected to go to trial for murder, and pleaded guilty to manslaughter “to avoid the risk of a sentence of life imprisonment”.
Judge Peter Davis told Randall: “Your plea of guilty is late and I do not find you genuinely remorseful, your actions since you punched Kye are representative of self-preservation”.
Randall was made eligible for parole in 2021, after he served five years of the sentence.
UNNAMED: IPSWICH
A former Queensland Police officer was jailed in 2021 for molesting and filming his daughter and stepdaughter.
The Dalby man pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court to 11 offences, including making and possessing child exploitation material, and multiple counts of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 12 who was a lineal descendant.
His offending spanned a 15 year period and was uncovered after police uncovered child exploitation material in his former Ipswich home.
The court heard he had served as a police officer from 2001 until his arrest in 2016 – at which time he was suspended without pay.
The man was sentenced to four years imprisonment, which would be suspended for five years after he served 16 months in custody.
UNNAMED: SUNSHINE COAST
A former Queensland officer lost his job on the back of mental health issues and drunken domestic violence offending.
The man pleaded guilty to breaching a domestic violence order in Maroochydore Magistrates Court last December – his second domestic violence offence in less than three months.
The breach occurred in October, 2022, when he drunkenly texted his son, saying “your mum has sold our house, taken my job, my income … and put me in jail. Not a fan. Karma will come”.
The court heard the 55-year-old had underlying PTSD, major depressive disorder, and issues with alcohol abuse.
His defence barrister David Jones said his client had spent $32,000 for an intense rehab program in an attempt to rehabilitate himself.
The man was sentenced to six months imprisonment, to be served concurrently with a previous 12 months suspended sentence.
He received immediate parole release, with 54 days of presentence custody declared time-served.
NO CONVICTIONS RECORDED:
HELEN GODFREY: BRISBANE
A homicide detective risked her career when she made “a silly and foolish decision” in an attempt to avoid a minor speeding fine.
Helen Elizabeth Godfrey was caught driving an unmarked police car at 71km in a 60km zone in February, 2020.
The Detective Senior Constable tried to waive the resulting $177 fine, falsely claiming that she had been travelling to Burleigh Heads due to an ongoing murder investigation.
Godfrey successfully avoided the fine and a single demerit point as a result.
When her deception was uncovered, however, she was charged with fraud and fined $1000 at her sentence last July.
Crown prosecutor Harriet Hall-Pearce called the offending an “exploitation and abuse of power”.
Defence barrister Stephen Zillman conceded it had been a “most foolish decision”.
“She is remorseful and she … offers to the community, particularly of course to the QPS, her apology for her behaviour but she has a desperate wish to remain in the service,” he said.
The court heard Godfrey would be subject to disciplinary proceedings as a result of the fraud charge.
KURT NESTEROWICH: BRISBANE
Former Cairns police officer Kurt Alexander Nesterowich was ordered to pay $5000 to a woman after he strangled her in her own bed and called her a c***.
He was originally charged with two counts of rape and sexual assault relating to the same incident but was acquitted of the sexual assault charge and one of the rape charges after trial.
The prosecution later dropped the remaining rape charge – leaving one charge of common assault.
He proceeded on the basis that the jury had acquitted Nesterowich of the rape and sexual assault because they could not exclude the fact he had genuinely, but mistakenly, believed she was consenting to the sex.
Nesterowich was suspended from police service when originally charged with rape, and was dismissed prior to the trial after being convicted of public nuisance.
At the time of sentence, he was working as a water-metre inspector.
Originally published as FULL LIST: Queensland police officers who broke the law
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