Mt Barker man first in Great Southern charged with persistent family violence after Special Crime Squad arrest

A 42-year-old Mt Barker man has become the first person in the Great Southern charged with persistently engaging in family violence — an offence introduced in WA last year as part of landmark domestic violence law reform. WA’s special crime squad was involved in the arrest of Paul Baird-Orr at a property in Mt Barker on Wednesday, April 28. Detectives from the squad’s serious crime and family violence team accompanied Mt Barker police officers as they executed simultaneous search warrants under the Criminal Investigation Act 2006 and Misuse of Drugs Act 1981. Mr Baird-Orr has been charged with a string of domestic violence-related charges, including three counts of assault, and one count of acts likely to endanger the life, health or safety of person. The charge of persistently engaging in family violence relates to allegations of at least three acts of family violence on different days within a period of 10 years. A conviction carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. If dealt with in the Magistrate’s Court, the maximum penalty is three years in prison and a $36,000 fine. Mr Baird-Orr faced Albany Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, when he was granted bail with a $1000 surety. He is due back in court today. When the persistent family violence offence was passed by State Parliament in June, the State Government said it was introduced “in recognition of the reality of family violence for many victims, where the perpetrator commits persistent and ongoing acts of violence against them”. The new laws also created an offence for non-fatal suffocation or strangulation, and gave the courts the ability to declare serial family violence offenders. After the laws were introduced, Great Southern Police family violence co-ordinator Sgt Shannon McGeown described them as “historic”. “These laws create a special — and shameful — category reserved for repeat family violence offenders,” Sgt McGeown said in June.