A Queensland man who shot his former partner dead in a Gold Coast McDonald’s was serving a two-year domestic violence order, police have confirmed.
Stephen Lock allegedly murdered his 49-year-old ex-partner Karina Lock in front of shocked diners at the Helensvale restaurant on Thursday, before turning the gun on himself.
Lock had reportedly moved to the coast to escape her abusive partner, who died in hospital on Friday.
The Maryborough magistrates court issued a domestic violence order against the 57-year-old in December 2013, which would have expired in December this year had there been no breaches, a Queensland police service spokeswoman said on Saturday.
The horrific spate of family violence in Queensland in recent days has prompted the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, to offer a support service whatever extra resources it needs and promise to rush new legislation through parliament.
On Monday, a father allegedly killed his six-year-old daughter in her bed and then allegedly tried to kill his other daughter, aged eight.
The next day, Gold Coast mother-of-one Tara Brown, 24, was violently beaten after allegedly being run off the road by her former partner, ex-Bandidos bikie Lionel Patea. She died in hospital on Wednesday night.
The shooting was enough for Palaszczuk to announce her government would fast-track domestic violence legislation through parliament when sittings resumed next week.
The legislation stemmed from a domestic violence taskforce report given to the government in February, which included 140 recommendations for new measures such as the inclusion of a new criminal offence: non-lethal strangulation.
“My government has said that we will adopt all of those recommendations and we will now look at what elements of that report that we can fast track,” said Palaszczuk.
“What we’ve just seen over the last few days is atrocious, it’s horrific ... and it’s had horrible consequences.”
Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
