Ben Smee for The Guardian:
The Queensland police service has missed the deadline to file its defence in a breach of privacy case brought by a domestic violence victim whose details were leaked by a police officer.
Julie* was forced to go into hiding after a senior constable, Neil Punchard, accessed her address from the police QPrime database and sent it to her violent former husband, who has been convicted of domestic violence and faces another charge of breaching a domestic violence order.
Punchard then sent text messages to Julie’s former husband joking about the matter.
“Just tell her you know where she lives and leave it at that. Lol. She will flip,” Punchard wrote in one message that was later sent to the Crime and Corruption Commission.
The Queensland Government Insurance Fund has instructed the government legal service, Crown Law Queensland, to fight the case on behalf of the police service.
Julie is self-represented in the Queensland civil and administrative tribunal. The police service was required by the tribunal to file “the statements of evidence on which it seeks to rely” by Monday at 4pm.
The police defence to Julie’s claim is broadly that the state should not be held responsible for the actions of rogue individuals.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/23/queensland-police-misses-defence-deadline-after-domestic-violence-victims-details-leaked
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