‘For What?’ Hannah Clarke inquest shown footage of killer husband’s outburst at protection order

Footage of killer husband Rowan Baxter objecting to a protection notice ordering him to stay away from Hannah Clarke and her children has been played at an inquest into the young mum’s grisly death.

In the footage, played to the court on the seventh day of the inquest, an agitated Baxter is seen questioning why he was being served the protection order while carrying his daughter Laianah, days after he forcibly took her on Boxing Day 2019.

More footage captures him six weeks later refusing to be interviewed by police after breaching that same order.

Hannah Clarke and her children Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4 and Trey, 3 were murdered by Baxter on February 19, 2020.

The enraged ex-husband ambushed the young family outside her parents’ Camp Hill home, dousing the car in petrol and setting it alight.

The court on Tuesday was told Baxter had attempted to minimise his child abduction incident when confronted by police.

Senior Constable Justin Kersey went to see Baxter at his address in Carindale on December 29, 2019 to serve him a copy of the police protection notice.

The visit came days after Baxter had forcibly taken Laianah from Hannah on Boxing Day.

He told the court he was not aware the girl had been taken.

Bodycam footage of the meeting with officers was played to the court, showing Baxter carrying the young child as the papers are served.

Baxter appears shocked as the officer explains the conditions of the order, including not having any contact with Hannah or her children.

“What? For what?” He exclaims in the footage as the officer explains the order is for domestic violence.

The court was told Baxter attempted to explain the child was “happy to go with him” and he caused no distress, despite contradictory accounts that day from Hannah and a woman who saw the incident unfold.

Six weeks later, Baxter was charged with breaching his order after he was seen in a shopping centre where Hannah worked.

Constable Kersey said Baxter was taken to the Police Beat after a member of the public overheard a man saying “I can’t go in there, the cops are there” – in reference to Hannah’s workplace.

Constable Kersey gave evidence Baxter was issued with a notice to appear at court for the breach.

More footage was played to the court, displaying Baxter sitting down with his arms folded and refusing to speak to police at the Police Beat.

Constable Kersey was grilled as to why he did not seek any other bail conditions for Baxter.

“With the Human Rights Act coming in earlier that year, we made a decision under the circumstances with his zero criminal history … that we made the decision to issue him with the notice to appear,” he said.

“There are already non-contact conditions covered under the domestic violence order.”

Constable Kersey admitted he was not aware Baxter had a criminal history in New Zealand.

Earlier in the day, the head of Queensland’s Police Union made shock admissions that the basic training officers received on domestic violence was “lacking”.

Ian Leavers told the court streamlining red tape and paperwork and putting a national framework would allow officers to make better determinations on protecting victims of family violence.

He said police training for domestic and family violence was “lacking” and police felt “hamstrung” by the legislation.

Face-to-face training had been limited over the past few years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“A lot of police feel like, with the lack of training, they’re letting victims and the community down through no fault of their own,” he said.

“(Online training) is not serving the purpose it needs to do.”

The inquest continues.

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