Lawyer hits back at police

POLICE should not be exempt from abiding by court orders, a defence lawyer has claimed after a bitter war of words broke out between a Southport magistrate and the Queensland Police Union.

Magistrate Gary Finger threatened to charge Gold Coast Child Protection and Investigation Unit Detective Senior Constable Francesco Distefano with contempt on Tuesday after he admitted in a hearing he had failed to gather evidence from three alleged victims of child sexual abuse.

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers called the threats “absurd” and defended Det Snr Const Distefano who faced an “exhausting” workload.

Guest Lawyers director Adam Guest yesterday hit back at Mr Leavers and said while the matters were technical it did not change the fact the evidence had not been gathered.

“I am not sure why it is thought that court orders and ongoing disclosure obligations can be disregarded by police without the possibility of sanction,” Mr Guest said.

The case involves a 20-yearold man who has been charged with three counts each of rape and indecent treatment of a child under 16 and one count of using the internet to procure children under 16.