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Victim’s mother pleads for domestic violence bail changes

Teresa Bradford was stabbed to death by her estranged husband in her Pimpama home on Tuesday.

Teresa Bradford was stabbed to death by her estranged husband in her Pimpama home on Tuesday. Photo: Facebook

People accused of domestic violence in Queensland may have to convince a judge they should be bailed, under changes reportedly being considered in the wake of the Bradford murder-suicide.

Normally, prosecutors have to convince the court a person is an unacceptable risk and should remain behind bars.

But Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath is understood to be examining changing the justice system to shift the onus on to the accused to prove they should get bail, the Courier-Mail reported on Thursday.

Gold Coast mother Teresa Bradford was killed by her estranged husband David on Tuesday, less than three weeks after Bradford was granted bail on domestic violence charges against the 40-year-old mother of four.

Friends of Ms Bradford said she had been trying to leave the family home at Pimpama with her children after learning of her husband’s release from custody.

She was the fifth woman on the Gold Coast to be allegedly killed by her partner in the past 16 months.

The mother of another Gold Coast woman killed last year in a domestic violence attack has called for an overhaul of bail laws following another murder in the region.

Bonnie Markwell Mobbs’ daughter Shelsea Schillings was killed by her ex-partner Bronson Ellery in Southport last November.

She says the murder of mother-of-four Teresa Bradford at the hands of her husband this week is another sign things need to change.

“Pieces of paper do absolutely nothing. It’s not a wall, it’s not a barrier – it’s a piece of paper,” Ms Markwell Mobbs said.

“My daughter was a beautiful girl. She was loving. She was caring. We don’t need another person to have to live the life I have to live.”

Ms Bradford was murdered by her estranged husband David Bradford in a murder-suicide on Tuesday, two weeks after he was granted bail over a violent November attack in which he choked and bashed his wife.

National domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT. In an emergency call triple-zero.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.

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