A father-of-four with an ‘atrocious’ criminal history has dramatically confronted officers inside a police station while armed with a hammer and screaming ‘just f**king shoot me’.
Timothy Mervyn Charles Hart, 34, was arrested in Mackay, north Queensland, after breaching his parole conditions just 12 days before they were due to end in March, 2024.
Police bodycam footage, obtained by the Courier Mail, showed Hart entering the station and being informed of his arrest.
He quickly pulled a hammer out of his shorts, prompting the officer to draw his taser.
‘Just shoot me, I’m f**king over it,’ Hart screamed.
‘Don’t come towards us, you may be shot,’ the officer told him and repeatedly asked him to ‘put the hammer down’.
‘F**king kill me, please,’ Hart said.
The officer replied: ‘We don’t want to do that mate. Let’s just have a chat.’
Timothy Mervyn Charles Hart (pictured) confronted Queensland cops with a hammer after he breached his parole just 12 days before the conditions ended
At no point did any police officer draw their firearm, only a taser (pictured)
The tense standoff lasted about two minutes before the officer fired his taser, causing Hart to fall to the ground screaming.
At no point did any police officer draw their guns, only a taser.
It’s understood Hart was turning himself in after learning he had violated his parole conditions by failing to report a new relationship to his supervisors.
He had been on parole since 2021 and had just 12 days left when he was issued a return to prison warrant over the breach.
The circumstances of Hart’s warrant were not made clear to the officers at Mackay Police Station, they only knew he needed to be arrested.
‘They showed incredible patience and resilience when dealing with you,’ Acting Magistrate Nigel Rees said.
‘They did not draw their firearm.
‘This could have ended disastrously for you and your family.
‘Police officers are entitled to go about their duties without being threatened.’
However, Magistrate Rees added ‘communication between the different departments might have avoided what happened next’.
The court heard Hart had an ‘atrocious’ criminal history but had worked hard to get his life back on track.
Legal Aid Queensland solicitor Danny Yarrow said Hart had been hired as a hydro-blaster, found accommodation and stopped using drugs.
The thought that his efforts to go straight were in vain had clearly distressed him, as he told officers during the standoff, ‘My life’s ruined’.
Mr Yarrow said his client believed ‘everything that he’s worked for has been lost’ and pointed to the fact Hart did not raise the hammer during the confrontation.
‘He’s armed with it though (and) asked multiple times to drop it. Why’s he got a hammer on him?’ Magistrate Rees said.
Hart pleaded guilty to serious obstruction while armed and was granted immediate parole release, having served 314 days in pre-sentence custody.
‘You’ve got your life back on track and your behaviour at the police station manifested because you thought you were going to lose everything,’ Magistrate Rees said.
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