‘Victim blaming’ comments after Hannah Clarke murders were part of botched police media strategy

Documents reveal comments by Det Insp Mark Thompson were attempt to flush out killer's supporters

• Police made potentially critical mistakes in Hannah Clarke murders, new evidence reveals

• Read more from Guardian Australia's two-year investigation here

Senior Queensland police officers gave a presentation that explained controversial comments made by a detective in the wake of the Hannah Clarke murders were part of a police media strategy" that went wrong", documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal.

Det Insp Mark Thompson told a press conference in the days after the murders in February 2020 that police were keeping an open mind" about the case in which Clarke's estranged husband, Rowan Baxter, was seen pouring petrol on and setting the family car alight, killing Clarke, their three children and himself.

We need to look at every piece of information," Thompson said. And, to put it bluntly, there are probably people out there in the community that are deciding which side, so to speak, to take in this investigation.