Charges dropped against QLD police officer Thaler, accused of trespass of Toowoomba home
A regional Queensland police officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing for entering the home of an alleged Toowoomba drug dealer.
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A regional Queensland police officer may be reprimanded internally after he entered an alleged drug dealer’s house to retrieve forgotten police property, hours after a raid.
Senior Constable Franz Andre Thaler was charged with one count of trespass following the incident at the Glenvale home, at Toowoomba on June 22, 2023.
The court heard while the charge was before the court the senior constable was stood down from his duties and placed in an admin role.
Senior Constable Thaler had the charge dismissed following a hearing before the Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Tuesday, April 2.
Police prosecutor Trudi Jobberns and barrister Troy Schmidt submitted an agreed version of facts to court, which conceded Senior Constable Thaler had returned to the Diamantina Drive address to retrieve police property.
The court was told Senior Constable Thaler spoke with other officers before retrieving the alleged drug dealer’s house keys from the watch-house staff.
CCTV footage from the front door of the home was played to the court and showed a plain-clothed Senior Constable Thaler arriving in a dark grey utility truck, before using the keys to enter.
“Hello? Police,” he announced twice while in the dwelling.
Soon after, he was seen leaving with a large black backpack, which the court heard contained a number of QPS items including Senior Constable Thaler’s police diary, official forms and notices, gloves, and potential evidence seized during the raid.
Despite the arrested property owner not being consulted, magistrate Clare Kelly said police prosecution had not established it was an unlawful act.
Ms Kelly noted Ms Jobberns said she could not argue against Mr Schmidt’s submission that Senior Constable Thaler acted within his rights under the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act.
The charge of trespass was dismissed and the Police Commissioner was ordered to pay Senior Constable Thaler $2250 in legal costs.
Mr Schmidt told the court Senior Constable Thaler’s life and career had been significantly impacted by the ordeal, noting he could be reprimanded internally which would likely result in community service or a fine.
Senior Constable Thaler’s appearance in court comes a year after he gave evidence in an entirely unrelated matter regarding the shooting of his colleague Brett Forte, who was gunned down by criminal Ricky Maddison in May 2017.
Senior Constable Forte was killed on Wallers Rd, an isolated country road in the Lockyer Valley.
He told the inquest he had been on Wallers Rd 11 days earlier and had coincidently been going bushwalking and birdwatching on his day off.
The officer was clutching his police-issued iPad when he was confronted and photographed by property owner Adam Byatt.
The walk was just 11 days before his tactical crime squad colleague was gunned down by Maddison who lured police to the road in a low-speed chase before he ambushed them and sprayed their vehicle with automatic gunfire.
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Originally published as Charges dropped against QLD police officer Thaler, accused of trespass of Toowoomba home
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