A coronial inquest into the apparent domestic violence murder of a Queensland woman last year has been told neighbours heard a woman screaming for help and glass smashing on the night of her death.
Warning: This story contains graphic details that readers may find distressing.
Browns Plains woman Doreen Langham, 49, died in a unit fire believed to have been deliberately lit by her former partner, Gary Hely, in February last year.
He also died in the blaze.
Last year the Queensland Police Commissioner ordered a review into the police handling of the incident after it was revealed officers had attended the townhouse hours before the fatal fire was lit.
On Tuesday, the coronial inquest at Southport Magistrates Court heard from neighbours and emergency service responders.
Neighbour Timothy Brear said he called triple-0 in the early hours of February 22 after hearing what sounded like a person being "thrown through a glass door" and a woman screaming for help.
"I knew something horrible had happened," he told the court.
"Maybe 30 seconds later I walked out of my room and I could see outside, in the reflection of the unit opposite mine, a unit was on fire.
"Then I realised I needed to get out and call the police."
'Yelling and screaming'
Two other neighbours who lived in separate units up from Mr Brear and Ms Langham said they also heard "concerning" sounds before the fire broke out.
Neighbour Tina De-Courcey described hearing a man's "muffled yelling and screaming" before hearing a resident yelling for people to get out due to a fire.
She ran to the street with her daughter and saw the unit burning.
A third neighbour, Michelle Rielly, told the court she was up early to go to work about 3:30am on the Monday and heard a woman crying in Ms Langham's unit as she walked to her car.
The inquest also heard from numerous responding police, including a then-rookie officer who had only been working in the job for several months.
Constable Mitchell Langford told the inquest he and a fellow officer attended a more urgent code-two domestic violence job before responding to the incident involving Ms Langham.
Ms Langham did not answer the door when police attended.
Police process questioned
The court heard Ms Langham, 49, called police on February 21 because she was concerned Mr Hely, who had a domestic violence order (DVO) against him, was at her property.
Barristers questioned Constable Langford about why he did not look up the history of the alleged offender and whether he had previous DVO breaches to his name before attending the scene.
It was suggested that if he had, he would have seen Mr Hely had four prior breaches.
They also questioned how thoroughly the officers checked Ms Langham's unit to locate her and look for evidence of forced entry upon the visit, before leaving to take a meal break at McDonald's.
One barrister suggested the pair had treated the job as "less important and minor" after attending the previous domestic violence incident.
The officer agreed they had and admitted he would approach the incident differently now, including checking all possible points of entry to the home, making more effort to locate the Ms Langham before leaving, and checking the offender's interstate criminal history and outstanding offences.
'Learning on the job'
Constable Langford said he did not know how to conduct such searches at the time, but could have asked a senior officer.
He said he was still in the process of "learning on the job" at the time.
The inquest heard the constable had served Mr Hely with his DVO 12 days before responding to Ms Langham's call-out, but said he did not realise that or recognise the name at the time.
Police body-camera footage was played to the court of Constable Langford serving Mr Hely at a South Brisbane police station in early February.
It showed Mr Hely saying he was "shocked" by the order and had known Ms Langham for 33 years.
"She's my sister's best friend," he told Constable Langford.
"There's no reason [for the DVO], there's never been any violence.
"She's never had any reason to be in fear.
Firefighter Benjamin Hamilton was another first responder called to give evidence at the inquest on Tuesday and detailed being one of the first to see two people's deceased bodies inside the unit.
Mr Hamilton said he distinctly recalled smelling petrol fumes when he lifted what he understood to be Ms Langham's body.
The inquest continues on Wednesday and is due to finish on Friday.
