Queensland police officer made false claims about Virgin pilot after learning of his wife’s affair

An affair between a Virgin pilot and a police officer’s estranged wife resulted in him being placed under house arrest for months after the officer made false claims about him to the airline.

The lies against the pilot were exposed in findings from a Queensland civil appeals court, which found the now-resigned police officer also used “emotionally controlling behavior” as a tool of domestic violence after discovering the affair.

He made a number of claims to airline bosses, including that the pilot was colorblind and a heavy drinker, which promptly suspended him.

The pilot was suspended from flying for months after false claims were made against him

QCAT was asked by the ex-police officer to review the findings of a separate internal investigation by the Queensland Police Service which found he had committed five counts of misconduct.

All but one of these cases of misconduct were established by QCAT Acting Senior Member Ann Fitzpatrick last week.

The court was told that in July 2014, the former officer was asking for a divorce from his then-wife.

A few days later, he discovered she was having an affair with the Virgin pilot, who he had been friends with since 1999.

In early August, the former officer took his wife’s phone and read her texts and emails.

The tribunal acknowledged that given the “deeply personal and distressing” nature of the circumstances, most people would behave inappropriately.

The pilot and the officer’s ex-wife are now married.

The tribunal upheld QPS’ findings that the behavior amounted to domestic violence as it was a means of emotional control. Furthermore, the behavior shown was not acceptable behavior by a police officer.

The tribunal heard the former officer threaten the pilot via email that he “may also have mandatory reporting requirements to CASA that a Virgin pilot is dyslexic (sic) and has chronic asthma”.

The officer contacted CASA’s chief medical officer a month later, claiming the pilot was color blind and was working under the influence of heavy drinking.

The pilot was grounded for a few months before being cleared to fly again by medical examiners.

In its decision, the arbitral tribunal found that the allegations are serious “because they involve a willful act of victimization, cost and suffering to an individual, and cost to a commercial airline.”

The officer also used a false name and address to make a false claim about the pilot and twice told Brisbane City Council that the pilot was carrying out unauthorized construction work on his Brisbane home.

The tribunal also upheld QPS’ finding that the former officer had signed a false affidavit in relation to a domestic violence proceeding and denied that he had prepared the report.

The cop and the woman are now divorced and she married the pilot (stock image)

Elsewhere, the court assessed an incident in January 2017 in which the officer, in a private capacity at his child’s school, boasted to teachers that he had “put people in jail.”

While the court recognized that the statement likely intimidated the teachers, it was dismissed as no wrongdoing.

“At worst, the testimony was smug and unnecessary,” the tribunal wrote.

The man – who has since been fired by Queensland Police – also committed misconduct when, in late 2017, he told a supervisor he wanted to “jump over the table and hit you on the head” while he was being questioned as part of the disciplinary hearing.

The tribunal found that the threat was immediately met with an apology, but the threat to a manager constituted misconduct.

QCAT will review the sanction at a later date.