[ad_1]
This week marks a year since the murders of Hannah Clarke and her children Aaliyah, six, Laianah, four and Trey, three, at the hands of her ex-husband Rowan Baxter, who is from New Zealand.
The deaths left Hannah’s parents reeling. They had been doing their best to support their daughter as she navigated her new life as a single mother, and she had been doing very well.
The former Warrior Baxter player had been waiting while Hannah drove her children to school before ambushing them while they were stopped at a red light. He doused them with gasoline and set them on fire before stabbing himself to death.
In the lead up to the one-year anniversary of that terrible day, Lloyd and Sue Clark have spoken with B105’s Stav, Abby, and Matt about how they found out about the tragedies. They also shared that Abby Coleman from the show will be working as an ambassador for Small Steps 4 Hannah.
Supplied
Hannah Clarke and her three young children, Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3, died in a car fire in Brisbane in February 2020.
READ MORE:
* Australian Hannah Clarke and her children rest after being burned in their car.
* ‘Not All Domestic Abuse Is Physical’: Hannah Clarke’s Family Open Up About ‘Controlling’ Rowan Baxter
* Brisbane car fire: Hannah Clarke didn’t think she was a victim of domestic violence, friend says
Sue described that morning as “surreal”.
“I worked on the street and heard all the sirens and I was like, ‘Wow, what’s going on?'” Sue said.
Then at morning tea the young dentist I work with was leafing through his phone and saying, ‘Three children were burned to death in a car at Camp Hill’ and I felt bad. I called Hannah and she didn’t answer, but I thought she would be in the gym.
“So the dentist said it happened on Raven Street, and I immediately knew it. And at that moment, two police detectives came in. It was horrible.”
The couple spoke of Hannah’s initial uncertainty that their relationship was abusive, because there was no physical abuse but mental and emotional abuse.
“She had told me a lot over the years, which was very difficult because I wanted to say something or confront him, but that would make things worse,” Sue said.
“And on the rare occasions when I did say something, she would cry to me and I had to humiliate myself and apologize so that everything was okay.
“So we knew, but our hands were tied.”
The grieving couple recalled their daughter as “bubbly” with a “big smile,” and the time they lived with Hannah and the children before her death as “fun times” and “chaos.”
Facebook screenshot
Hannah Clarke was eager to start over with her three children, Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3, after separating from her husband.
Sue says that when the police returned Hannah’s phone to them, they found it filled with all the correspondence they had shared with her, adding that they were “lucky that Hannah never cleaned anything from her phone.”
“There were little messages there that Aaliyah and Laianah had made, and they were never sent.”
Lloyd said looking at them was “sad” but “wonderful”.
They admitted to seeing memories of Facebook appear, highlighting moments they had shared with the family before their death, including a visit to SeaWorld, which could be difficult.
Sue spoke about the mental and emotional abuse Hannah had suffered at the hands of her ex-husband, including emotional abuse and Baxter’s attempts to prevent Lloyd and Sue from seeing their grandchildren.
“He would punish Hannah by punishing me,” she told the B105 team.
As early as July 2019, the couple had prepared their home for Hannah and the children to move in with them, only for Baxter to constantly thwart their attempts to leave.
Sue remembered one morning when she was with her best friends at the gym, talking about Baxter’s controlling abuse, and together they performed.
Hannah took as much as she could into three garbage bags, allowing the children to take three toys each. It was too dangerous to let Baxter know what was going on.
Since then, Lloyd and Sue have learned about coercive control and are now campaigning to educate others about it through Small Steps 4 Hannah.
“The community at large is simply unaware of this repeated abusive behavior,” Lloyd said.
Coercive control is already illegal in Scotland and the Queensland government has said it will do the same within four years.
WHERE TO GET HELP:
- 1737, do you need to talk? – Toll free or text 1737 to speak with a trained counselor
- Depression.org.nz – 0800 111757 or text 4202
- Lifeline – 0800 543 354
- Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865 (0508 SUPPORT)
- Kidsline – 0800 54 37 54 for people up to 18 years old. Open 24/7.
- Youthline – 0800 376 633, free text 234, email [email protected], or find online chat and other support options here.
- Rural Support Trust – 0800787254
- Samaritans – 0800 726 666
- What’s Up – 0800 942 8787 (for children from 5 to 18 years old). Telephone advice available from Monday to Friday, from 12:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and on weekends from 3:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Online chat is available from 3 pm to 10 pm every day.
- thelowdown.co.nz – Web Chat, Email Chat or Free Text 5626
- Anxiety New Zealand – 0800 ANXIETY (0800 269 4389)
- Supporting families with mental illness – 0800732825.
- If it is an emergency, click here to find the number for your local crisis assessment team. In a life-threatening situation, call 111.
- Need help? If you or someone you know is in a dangerous situation, please click the Shielded icon at the bottom of this website to communicate with Women’s Refuge safely and anonymously without being traced to your browser history. If you are in our app, visit the mobile website here to access Shielded.
- Women’s Shelter (for women and children) – 0800733843.
- Shine (for men and women): call toll free 0508-744-633 between 9 am and 11 pm
- If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 111.
This Article originally appeared on Nine Honey and is being republished with permission.
