A Queensland man has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly setting fire to a woman in a horrific act of domestic violence in a home south of Brisbane.
After being treated by paramedics at the scene in the Logan suburb of Kingston on Saturday morning, the 34-year-old woman was rushed to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital in a serious condition. Police say she sustained serious burns.
The 36-year-old Kingston man was charged with attempted murder on Saturday night, as well as common assault and breach of domestic violence.
Police said authorities were called to the Kingston Court house at about 7.45am with reports of an “altercation” between a man and a woman, where they found the woman with burns to her body. They will allege the man had “produced a lighter and lit [her] on fire”.
The property where the woman was found was declared a crime scene, police said, with “secondary” crime scenes at Gould Adams Park on Kingston Road and the Kingston train station.
Police opposed bail and the man is expected to appear in Beenleigh magistrates court on Monday.
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, addressed the alleged murder attempt, telling reporters on Sunday that while the allegations may yet be contested before court, Queensland was in a state of sorrow for the young woman who remains in hospital.
“To everyone, to her family, to her neighbours, to the first responders, to every Queenslander: these are the kind of incidents that rock communities, and our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved,” Crisafulli said.
The alleged attempted murder came as the Queensland government announced a number of measures aimed at cracking down on domestic violence, including GPS tracking of perpetrators with a history of breaching domestic violence orders.
The prevention of domestic and family violence minister, Amanda Camm, stood beside the premier at Parliament House on Sunday morning to announce that work had begun on that pledge the LNP government took to the October election, which it won on the back of a tough on crime campaign.
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Camm committed to rolling out 150 GPS trackers this year before meeting its target of up to 500 ankle monitors on the highest risk offenders in the state.
“It is used to really front-load the system to ensure that there are 24/7 eyes on perpetrators so that they know that there is constant accountability to their whereabouts, to their interactions with victims and to make sure that they are following the letter of the law,” the minister said.
She said the system was modelled on a Tasmanian program and would help Queensland police who were “overwhelmed with the demand in domestic violence”.
Camm said the state’s DV connect crisis line was also “not meeting the demand”, with reports of calls going unanswered or not being followed up.
The minister said she had commissioned a report into the service with an interim report due in March, as well as an expert panel to oversee and guide domestic and family violence reforms that sought to put a “focus on perpetrators and perpetrator accountability”.
