Ipswich’s shocking domestic violence offences of the last year exposed
Ipswich has posted a new all-time record for breaches of domestic violence orders. We talk to experts about the problem and look at some shocking cases to come before Ipswich courts in the past year, including a man who branded his partner with a hot knife.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Ipswich has posted a new all-time record for breaches of domestic violence orders, it can be revealed.
Queensland Crime Statistics showed breaches of DVOs in Ipswich spiked to 382 in April, the highest number for a single month on record for the district.
But Ipswich District Inspector David Briese said increasing reports of domestic violence might, in part, be because more victims were coming forward.
“If the community has confidence they can report to us, that’s a good thing,” Mr Briese previously told Queensland Times.
Local organisation Domestic Violence Action Centre (DVAC) said it hoped to tackle the problem with its latest push for earlier intervention.
DVAC provides domestic violence services and support for victims across southeast Queensland including Ipswich.
CEO Amie Carrington said the organisation was presently working on addressing a gap in domestic violence services for young people who were perpetrators of domestic violence.
Their new Perpetrator Intervention Service worked with individuals aged 16 and older who had engaged in domestic violence.
The service pilot for the program, which has been independently validated by CQUniversity, had been running for 18 months.
Ms Carrington said DVAC had seen “amazing outcomes’’ so far in helping young people better understand their actions.
She said the young people involved in the program had also made strong changes in motivation to want to become safer partners and parents.
Ms Carrington said DVAC’s hope in the long term was that by providing intervention at a young age, the program would create generational change and reduce rates of domestic violence in the community.
DVAC also hoped that with more funding they could expand the program and provide more extensive support services for young people.
We take a look at some of the more notable domestic violence cases Ipswich courts have seen in the past year:
CONVICTIONS RECORDED
BYRON CAMPBELL
Campbell faced Ipswich District Court earlier this year for a terrifying “act of dominion” against his girlfriend.
The Bellbird Park operations manager beat the woman unconscious, tied her up and branded her with a hot knife, the court heard.
When the woman regained consciousness she was restrained and saw Campbell heating up the knife with a jet lighter.
After pressing the flat side to her back, Campbell told her: “You’re mine forever now, everyone is going to be able to see this scar”.
The father-of-two had fallen into alcohol and drug misuse after the end of his marriage.
Both he and the victim used drugs “daily” at the time of the offending, the court heard.
Campbell pleaded guilty to three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm (DV), one count of assault occasioning bodily harm while armed (DV), unlawful possession of a Category A, B or H weapon, and unauthorised possession of explosives.
He was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment, with immediate parole release and 422 days time-served.
TARSHA CHATWIN
Chatwin crashed her car into a man with whom she had a “toxic” relationship, but claimed it was an accident.
The beautician faced Ipswich District Court last December where she pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a vehicle causing grievous bodily harm and leaving the scene without obtaining help (DV), along with driving without a licence due to a demerit point suspension.
The court heard the couple had been arguing in Augustine Heights before Chatwin’s partner left.
Chatwin then deliberately drove towards him, hitting him before driving off.
She later told him: “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you”.
The man fractured his right leg, requiring surgery.
Chatwin was sentenced to two and a half years in jail, immediately suspended for a three-year operational period.
Her 140 days in presentence custody were declared time served and she was disqualified from driving for two years and six months.
She returned to court earlier this year for breaching that suspended sentence after moving to Townsville.
Nine months of her original sentence were activated as a result, with 62 days of presentence custody declared time served.
RICHARD KURA CLOUDY
The Booval dad was jailed last July for a relentless assault on a woman who screamed at him to stop.
He had warned her “you’re making me angry” during an argument before punching her in the face, causing her to fall backwards into a wall.
The court heard the woman attempted to shield her face, but Cloudy covered her mouth to muffle the screams as he continued to punch her.
Cloudy pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm (DV) and enter premises and commit indictable offence by break.
He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, with parole on November 21, 2022.
KARL LEE KAVANAUGH
Kavanaugh walked free with no actual jail time earlier this year despite a magistrate reprimanding him for his “appalling and unacceptable” domestic violence.
The Collingwood Park tradie had accused his girlfriend of cheating before punching her in the mouth.
The court heard the blow knocked the woman backwards and that blood started flowing from her mouth.
Defence lawyer Matthew Fairclough said his client had been smoking ice and had been coming down at the time of his “outrageous behaviour”.
Magistrate Robert Walker said Kavanaugh’s drug use was “not an excuse”.
However, he acknowledged Kavanaugh had made significant efforts to rehabilitate himself.
He said Kavanaugh’s offending was not at the highest end of the scale “as appalling as it is”.
Kavanaugh pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm and common assault – both domestic violence offences.
He was sentenced to nine months imprisonment with immediate parole release.
CARLIN MICHAEL JOSEPH O’LEARY
The Raceview man was jailed last July for strangling a woman in front of her six-year-old son.
He had argued with the woman, who the court heard threw a stick vacuum at him.
O’Leary then punched her in the arm, grabbed her by the throat and held her on the ground.
The woman’s vision blurred and she made a gargling sound as her son screamed “let my mummy go”.
O’Leary pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm (DV) and strangulation in a domestic setting.
He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with parole on January 13, 2023.
DALE PATRICK WHALLEY
The Ipswich District Court heard last year how Whalley hoisted his girlfriend up by the neck and choked her unconscious despite her pleas for him to stop.
The father of two, who weighed 125kg, arrived home drunk one evening in 2021, the court heard.
Whalley told his girlfriend “I will give you a five second head start, ready set go,” before hitting her in the face and calling her “scum, a dog and a fraud”.
He later yelled “baby what’s for dinner,” threw a frying pan of food across the kitchen and choked her again before using a hammer to smash holes in her walls.
Whalley also faced court on the same occasion for an attack on a previous partner's friend and another on a co-worker.
While on remand for those offences at the Brisbane Correctional Centre, Whalley enlisted his new partner to smuggle him 48 subutex strips, valuing $9600 to $14,400.
He had an extensive, violent criminal history and had struggled with substance abuse from a young age, the court heard.
Whalley pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm while armed, two counts of wilful damage, two counts of choking (DV), assault occasioning bodily harm (DV), stealing, assault occasioning bodily harm, and supplying a dangerous drug.
He was sentenced to five years imprisonment, with parole release on December 19, 2023, and 275 days of presentence custody declared time-served.
UNNAMED
An Ipswich mum faced court last year for assaulting her teenage daughters who were trying to soothe her after a violent confrontation with her partner.
The partner had walked in on her and her daughter when they were in the bathroom, the court heard.
The woman was triggered by the intrusion and responded by pushing her partner out of the room and punching him.
She later screamed that she would kill him, before throwing a bottle at him and running out into the street.
One of the woman’s teenage daughters tried to pull her back off the road, but the woman grabbed her by the throat and threw her to the ground.
She later grabbed her older daughter by the chin and pushed her head backwards until it hit the wall behind her.
The woman eventually required sedation and was heard saying in hospital “I will slit the g*ddamn f**king motherf**ker’s throat if he touches my daughter”.
The court heard the partner involved was in custody at the time of the woman’s sentence for “very serious” offences he had committed against her.
The woman pleaded guilty in Ipswich Magistrates’ Court to assault occasioning bodily harm (DV), two counts of common assault (DV), two counts of contravening a domestic violence order, public nuisance and obstructing police.
She was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment, with immediate parole release, and two days of pre-sentence custody declared time-served.
UNNAMED
Another Ipswich mum faced court earlier this year for years of negligence which resulted in her baby repeatedly being hospitalised and subjected to multiple unnecessary treatments.
She pleaded guilty in Ipswich District Court to one count each of child abuse and failing to supply the necessaries of life – both domestic violence offences.
Her daughter was just nine months old when the cruel offending started.
The child was repeatedly presented to hospital in a malnourished condition over the 2.5-year span of offending.
She lost weight and went through a number of invasive treatments as a result, including the insertion of feeding tubes into her stomach.
The woman had told hospital staff that her daughter simply would not feed in the normal way, but this was later found to be incorrect.
The child’s feeding lines also became contaminated while in the woman’s care.
The daughter suffered 16 bloodstream infections in one year as a result of that contamination.
The child made a full recovery after she was removed from the woman’s care.
Judge Dennis Lynch said the case was unusual because the woman had made attempts to get medical treatment for her daughter, albeit with incorrect descriptions of her child’s condition.
A psychological report said her health concerns likely played a role in her offending.
The woman was sentenced to two years imprisonment, wholly suspended for an operational period of two years.
She was further sentenced to two years probation, with convictions recorded for both offences.
NO CONVICTIONS RECORDED:
ROBIN GARRY GOWER
Gower, 73, faced court for stalking a woman and posting revealing images of her on Facebook Marketplace.
He had intended to sell the lingerie he had previously bought for the woman, which she was pictured wearing in the images.
The photos circulated on at least 10 Facebook community pages before the woman notified police.
Gower also sent the woman small bank transfers with messages attached including “a dollar deposit to rip off Rob”, and “this person has robbed me for $30,000 which I need to help pay for an operation for my daughter”.
The court heard Gower previously gifted the woman $20,000 and loaned her a further $15,000 before their relationship soured.
The victim also received a message from an unknown man asking to pay her for sex, which Gower had played a role in, the court heard.
He pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful stalking (DV) and one count of distributing intimate images (DV).
Gower was fined $1000 for the offending.
DARCY JOHNATHON WEBBER
Webber faced court earlier this year for a “bluntly immature” decision that sent him and his partner hurtling off the side of a highway.
His partner was driving on the Brisbane Valley Hwy at Fairney View in September last year when the pair argued and Webber asked her to pull over.
She refused, as she was travelling at 100km/h and believed there was no safe place to stop.
Webber yelled at her and pulled the handbrake.
The court heard the car locked up, veered off the road and narrowly missed a ditch before hitting a tree.
The couple had broken up and not had any contact since the incident, the court heard.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Nick Turnbull acknowledged the offending appeared to be out of character for Webber, but said a “far more catastrophic outcome” could have occurred.
Webber pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous operation of a vehicle (DV).
He was sentenced to 18 months probation and disqualified from driving for six months.
Originally published as Ipswich’s shocking domestic violence offences of the last year exposed
Pedestrian critical after being struck by car at Ipswich
A man is in a critical condition in hospital after being struck by a car at Ipswich overnight.
Shocking new details on serious bike crash near Gympie
Police have released new details about a dramatic crash involving a 4WD and motorbike on the Tin Can Bay Road which left the young rider so badly hurt he was airlifted in the rescue chopper.
Former QRL star, ex-soldier faces court on child grooming, rape charges
A former Central Queensland Capras and Ipswich Jets player and infantry soldier has been charged with child grooming and two counts of rape.
Widower’s heartbreaking words after losing wife after wedding
A killer driver has broken down as the husband of his victim revealed to a court his despair at losing his wife just days after their daughter walked down the aisle.
Speeding driver killed mum two weeks after daughter’s wedding
A young Brisbane driver’s inexplicable decision to overtake a convoy of cars at high speed on a single-lane regional highway had devastating consequences for both himself and the innocent couple he slammed into head-on.
Woman stabbed, knife held to toddler: Man’s frenzied attack on strangers
A Brisbane man has been sentenced over what a judge described a “mindless violence” against strangers at a service station and Zarraffa’s west of Brisbane.