Hannah Clarke and her children were unlikely to have been saved, even if authorities had done more, a Queensland coroner has found.
- A child safety officer from the Department of Child Safety to assess the risk of harm to children of families affected by domestic violence Domestic violence services provided to Ms Clarke were "adequate and appropriate" but failed to recognise her "extreme risk of lethality", Ms Bentley said. Ms Bentley found police and child safety officers failed to undertake a "real assessment" of the risk of harm to the Clarke children. "The only assessment was that Hannah was able to care for them," she said. "He was not charged and put on bail for the breach of the domestic violence order and the assault occasioning bodily harm," Ms Bentley said. He was a master of manipulation," Ms Bentley told the court.
A coroner investigating the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children recognised the mother's "astounding" bravery, saying it was unlikely anyone could have ...
"It hasn't ended yet," he added. Bentley said Ms Clarke had non-survivable burns, but bravely spoke to witnesses and police officers at the scene, telling what Baxter had done and asking about her "babies". The 44-year-old - who had a container of petrol, a knife and a lighter - told Ms Clarke to drive before pouring petrol on her and the children. He understood the extent of the atrocities he committed before killing himself "in a final act of cowardice". Sue Clarke described the multi-disciplinary police station as a potential "game changer". The coroner said Baxter was not mentally ill, but a "master of manipulation".
The coroner investigating the murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children has found all agencies failed ...
He planned the deaths in the days prior." "We need the other states to look at what Queensland has started and are doing and they need to follow suit," Lloyd Clarke said. "When Baxter concluded he had lost control of Hannah, he killed her and her three children. "Her fears were genuine and realistic and ultimately confirmed in the worst possible way," Bentley said. "He was a master of manipulation." Bentley said there were numerous opportunities to help Clarke in the lead-up to her murder that were not acted upon but said officers who dealt with Clarke directly acted appropriately.
A coroner has recommended sweeping changes to domestic violence training and support in the wake of the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children at the ...
She said there was a failure by support agencies to recognise the “extreme lethality” of Clarke’s domestic violence plight. Bentley said there was also a “significant lack of counselling programmes and support” for perpetrators of domestic violence in Queensland. Bentley said Baxter killed himself in a “final act of cowardice”, unable to live with the public denunciation and punishment he would receive. Bentley said despite the injuries, Clarke showed “astounding bravery” and was able to describe to witnesses what Baxter had done. “The children died almost immediately from the inhalation of fumes and burns,” Bentley said. A coroner has recommended sweeping changes to domestic violence training and support in the wake of the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children at the hands of her murderous ex-husband.
But Deputy State Coroner Jane Bentley says every agency that dealt with Ms Clarke failed to recognise the "extreme risk" she would be killed. Picture frames ...
- Some of Ghislaine Maxwell's victims have spoken outafter the 60-year-old was sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein abuse teenage girls. - Electricity provider Origin Energy has beenordered by the Federal Court to pay more than $17 million in penaltiesfor breaching its obligations to customers experiencing hardship and payment difficulties. "It is of great concern, and reflective of the attitudes that continue to purvey our community, even after Baxter had killed Hannah and her children, a number of people continued to give statements to police in which they stated that Baxter loved his wife and children, he was a great father and that his actions were somehow excused or explained by the fact that he was losing everything, was being victimised by the process, and that Hannah should not have kept his children from him.
The parents of slain Queensland mum Hannah Clarke have opened up about the chilling “red flags” surrounding her killer ex-husband Rowan Baxter in the wake ...
“I don’t want women to think there is no hope. “The problem is these men and women are good at convincing people. “With the training of the police officers they’ll recognise the signs a lot easier and quicker, and with having DV workers alongside the police it will help the police to understand it a lot better,” he said.
A coroner has recognised the astounding bravery of Hannah Clarke and said police did miss some opportunities to hold Rowan Baxter to account.
Bentley said Clarke’s fears about Baxter “were genuine and realistic and confirmed in the very worst way”. Hannah Clarke’s parents, Sue and Lloyd Clarke, said they hoped the findings of the inquest would help others in the future. A coroner has recognised the astounding bravery of Hannah Clarke and said police missed some opportunities to hold Rowan Baxter to account before he murdered Clarke and her three children in 2020.
The findings are a stark reminder men's violence against women is a national crisis and system reform is urgent.
A bold national commitment is needed now. Encouragingly, this draft plan provided a much-needed commitment to recognising children as victim-survivors in their own right. Critically, we also need a transparent approach to monitoring progress. It prompted significant calls for urgent action on violence against women and improved recognition of coercive control as a leading precursor to intimate partner femicide. Rowan Baxter had a history of violence. The inquest findings are a stark reminder of the horrific cost of men’s violence against women in Australia and the need for urgent action.
The parents of Hannah Clarke hope domestic violence survivors are not discouraged from seeking help after an inquest into the Brisbane mum's death found it ...
“There was clear coercive control if we add everything up together. “So not everybody had the same information. “In Rowan Baxter’s case, he was supreme manipulator. So there was information that Hannah’s family knew that the police didn’t. Most of the instances of coercive control and the pattern of behaviour that he engaged in was not criminal offending by themselves,” she said. If we could have connected the information, we may have had a better understanding of the level of risk she was in.”
Hannah Clarke's killer ex-husband was a “master of manipulation” who duped close friends, family and professionals into supporting him while meticulously ...
The children died almost “immediately” from inhalation of fumes and burns. In text messages to a friend, Baxter called Hannah “a joke”, “f--n disgraceful” and a “f--n c--t of a thing”. In her findings, Ms Bentley described Baxter as a “master of manipulation” who killed himself in a “final act of cowardice”. Hannah died from multi-organ failure as a result of the blaze and Baxter died from a self-inflicted stab wound after the attack, Ms Bentley found. Ms Bentley found Baxter made ludicrous claims that Hannah was “crazy”, depressed and having a relationship with someone at the gym in an attempt to portray his ex-wife in a negative light. A chilling portrait of Hannah Clarke’s killer husband Rowan Baxter, who was a “master of manipulation”, has been revealed.
A Queensland coroner has described Rowan Baxter as a 'master of manipulation' who was able to perform his role as a doting father while simultaneously ...
I've got a DVO I can't believe he's done this. 'I can't believe he's done this. The coroner added that some believed he was deserving of sympathy because he was 'losing everything' and that Ms Clarke was keeping his children from him. Ms Bentley said it was of great concern that some of his friends and associates still maintained that he had been a victim despite overwhelming evidence he had been manipulative, physically abusive and controlling. She said several had given statements to police that described Baxter as a man who loved his wife and kids and had been a great father. Days later, he posted to Facebook 'thanking his supporters and stating that having had his children taken from him was crippling and he would not stop fighting to have them 50 per cent of the time'. 'He acted pro bono as Baxter was friends with his brother and Baxter said he was struggling financially,' Ms Bentley said. Then on January 31, Baxter breached a domestic violence order and assaulted his ex-wife after planting explicit photos of her on the back seat of her car. 'He received funds and support from a number of friends and family members, who believed his lies that Hannah was treating him badly and that he was being victimised by her,' Coroner Bentley said in her findings. 'He would make himself out to be the victim and tell the Clarkes that Hannah had mental problems and she was the cause of issues.' Ms Clarke had refused to allow the children to stay with their father overnight before a protection order was put in place, which had enraged the 42-year-old. She said he began to build his case as the wronged ex-husband who was being abused by his former partner by being denied access to his three children.
Hannah Clarke and her children were murdered in 2020, but the coroner says nothing the systems could've done better would've helped.
She had a Domestic Violence Order (DVO). She had told authorities she was scared; again and again and again. Despite her fears about what might happen next, she scooped up her kids and left her marriage. She was surrounded by supportive friends and family.