The mother of a lady who was bashed to death by her bikie boyfriend with a fire hydrant cover has disclosed she had also experienced domestic abuse from a spouse.
Natalie Hinton, 56, acknowledged she, like her daughter Tara Brown, 24, who was murdered on the Gold Coast on September 8, 2015, had been abused by her lover.
Ms Brown was savagely bashed to death with a steel fire hydrant by her estranged Bandidos bikie enforcer partner Lionel Patea after she was run off the road by her estranged Bandidos bikie enforcer partner Lionel Patea.
After getting out of a toxic relationship herself, Ms Hinton claimed she recognized the indications early on that her daughter was in one, according to the Courier Mail.
When her daughter was 18 years old, she began seeing a man who spat on her, dismissed her as a single mother, and hounded her to the point that police had to intervene.
Ms Hinton made the admission while revealing that she has yet to notify her 10-year-old granddaughter Aria about her mother’s death. The girl has only been taught that her mother died in a car accident and that her father is in prison for causing harm to others.
Ms Hinton realized Ms Brown was in a toxic relationship when she witnessed Patea taking charge of her life, managing her money, deciding what she wore, and attempting to isolate her from her family.
‘I’d see bruising on her arms, like he’d been forcefully holding her,’ she said.
In April of that year, Ms Hinton said she received a troubling phone call from her daughter.
Ms Brown, who was 33 weeks pregnant, was shaken by Patea’s violent outburst in her car at Mermaid Beach.
He broke the side mirrors, spat in Ms Brown’s face, and referred to her as a “putrid dog mongrel slut.”
‘Mum, he’s smashed my car again; he’s ripped my dress off,’ Ms Brown said on the phone.
Ms Brown, who was too afraid to file a formal complaint, also admitted that her partner had threatened her with a firearm.
Ms Brown and Patea grew up in the same New Zealand/Maori community on the Gold Coast and had known each other since they were five years old.
Ms Hinton said her daughter would come home from school with stories of Patea and his brother ‘getting into trouble’ all the time.
Ms Hinton watched as her daughter was gradually won over by him as he lavished her with presents as the two got closer over time.
‘We’d struggled all the way through; I couldn’t shower her with all the gifts like he was,’ she said.
Patea was sentenced to 20 years in jail in 2017 after pleading guilty to Ms Brown’s murder.
A coronial inquest uncovered disturbing information regarding the days preceding Ms Brown’s death, including the discovery of 27 lethality risk factors at the time of her death.
Patea’s history of violence against Ms Brown, threats of suicide by Patea, and attempts to isolate her from her family and friends were among them.
Patea also sought control over every part of her life, not only forcing her to pay rent for living in his home, but also withdrawing funds from her account, leaving her with only $8 on one occasion.
Ms. Hinton explained that police were supposed to treat cases as urgent as soon as six danger factors were present, but Ms. Brown’s case was ‘not considered as urgent’ by policemen.
When Ms Brown requested for assistance, officers dismissed her, according to the deputy state coroner.
Ms Brown had gone to the police on September 3 – five days before her murder – to apply for a domestic violence protection order, according to Ms Bentley.
Her cries for help were turned down, with one officer telling an internal investigation it was ‘commonplace for women to make false allegations to further their position in Family Court matters’.
Ms Brown’s lawyer had called the Southport Police Station ahead of time to request a quiet room for Ms Brown to address her concerns about Patea.
When Ms Brown arrived at the station, however, Ms Bentley said that officers failed to give her a room or take a statement.
Ms Brown went so far as to show the policeman at reception that Patea had sent her “hundreds of messages in the space of hours.”
‘The constable spoke to his shift supervisor, a sergeant, and both concluded that they had no evidence to confirm that domestic and family violence had occurred,’ Ms Bentley said.
Ms Brown had also observed a member of Patea’s family outside the station and expressed fear that they were watching her, according to the deputy state coroner.
Patea had held Ms Brown to the bed and threatened her with a pair of scissors, according to Ms Brown.
Ms Bentley said that when the policeman was informed of the occurrence, he did not accurately record it.
‘Ms Brown reported that Mr Patea held scissors to her throat and threatened her, but the constable’s recollection and reporting of events differed dramatically from that of the solicitor and Ms Brown’s mother, who were also present,’ Ms Bentley said.
‘He recorded that scissors fell out of Mr Patea’s pocket after he pushed her onto the bed and that it was not a violent push.
‘Ms Brown was reluctant to sign a statement about the events.’