Regional Queensland teacher found not guilty of chilling DV allegations

A Darling Downs primary school teacher accused of holding a knife to his partner’s throat has been found not guilty of the offence.

Generic photo of a classroom.

A regional Queensland teacher accused of choking his partner and holding a knife to her throat has been cleared of the allegations.

The Darling Downs teacher was charged with the crimes, which were charged as contraventions of a domestic violence order, in 2023.

The man, who legally cannot be named, pleaded not guilty to the two charges of contravening a domestic violence order at a hearing before the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in April.

During the short trial, the teacher gave evidence from the witness stand, as did his former partner, and two police officers.

A Darling Downs teacher was found not guilty of contravening a domestic violence order following a hearing at before the Toowoomba courts in April 2025.

While being cross-examined, the woman told the court she endured years of domestic violence in the lead up to the knife incident, which was the catalyst for her to leave the long-term relationship and make a police report.
She said they had been arguing about finances in their kitchen while the man was preparing food when he held a knife under her chin and threatened to kill her.

She thought she was going to die, she said.

When she came home the following day, she said the man was at the home uninvited, when he pushed her up against a linen closet and began choking her.

She filmed the altercation, however dropped the phone when he lunged at her.

The man told the court his former partner was the aggressor, and he never laid a hand on her or threatened to kill her.

He said he threw the knife during the argument, stating she sucker punched him when he purposefully ignored her, and that she had pushed him to excess for the purpose of the video to make him look bad.

“You started this,” he’s heard saying at the start of the video.

He said she often belittled him for not contributing enough to their household, made him feel like less of a man, and that she often used the DVO, issued by police, against him to get her own way.

The man’s defence lawyer, Randall Gibbens, put to the woman that she lied about what happened and used it to gain leverage in family court proceedings.

“Absolutely not,” she said.

“I wanted justice, and I wanted accountability.

“And like always, he placed the blame on me.”

He also put to the woman that her prescribed medications for her mental health, had distorted her perception and impeded her memory which she profusely denied.

Mr Gibbens asked the woman if she had sent the man a threat from a police station, with a photo attached, stating “you will regret this,” to which she agreed.

However, the woman told the court it wasn’t a threat, and she went to the police station because he refused to be held accountable for the incident with the knife.

She also conceded that she quickly deleted the message soon after sending it.

The Darling Downs teacher said to this day he suffered from immense stress and chills following the relationship, to the point where he had to block the woman’s notifications from showing up on his phone.