IT’S been almost 10 years since Ben Alexander Ephraim Dyball left the Queensland police under a cloud of trauma and allegations of bizarre behaviour.
He’s had a tough time letting go of the past.
That was apparent when officers from Warwick Police — where Mr Dyball was once stationed — raided his Elbow Valley property and allegedly found a stash of old police uniforms, official police notepads, gun holsters (including one of the concealable variety), handgun and rifle ammunition, several police identification cards, two pairs of police handcuffs and 450g of marijuana.
A weapons licence Mr Dyball had previously declared stolen and a number of rifle bolts were also seized.
The officers had waited until the 49-year-old was at the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) in Toowoomba appealing the suspension of his weapons licence, to exercise their search warrant.
The Queensland Weapons Licensing Unit revoked Mr Dyball’s licence in September 2015 following a bizarre incident in which he was reported missing and police became concerned he was unfit to own and operate a gun.
Mr Dyball responded to the loss of his licence by reporting it, and several guns he owned, stolen. However, those items were among the police property and paraphernalia later seized.
He was arrested outside the tribunal in Toowoomba on May 18 last year and remains free on bail ahead of a scheduled appearance at Warwick Magistrate’s Court later this month.
While it remains unclear what led Mr Dyball to temporarily vanish, something transpired that led police to believe that his access to firearms was not in the public interest.When Mr Dyball challenged the suspension through QCAT, the Queensland Police Service countered with documents detailing his erratic behaviour as a police officer between 1991 and 2008, including statements from several former colleagues.
Those documents, summarised in QCAT member Michael Wood’s January 17 decision to uphold the weapons license suspension, painted a disturbing picture.
Sergeant Ross Waugh, who was Mr Dyball’s supervisor in 2002 while heading the Warwick Road Policing Unit, recalled the “blatant insubordination” and “untrustworthiness” he displayed on the job.
Sgt Waugh said Mr Dyball refused to comply with specific directions, had removed “my personal diaries from my personal locker”, falsified entries on occurrence sheets, failed to report damage to police vehicles — including occasions when the damage was incurred by Mr Dyball himself, and had a habit of sleeping in patrol cars while on duty.
Other concerns cited included being fined for failing to stop a vehicle and careless driving after avoiding a random breath test which sparked a police chase on the outskirts of Warwick.
“In terms of his behaviour whilst a police officer, Mr Dyball agreed that he failed to properly lodge evidence for use in proceedings as required by the Queensland Police Service (QPS) but, instead, kept the evidence in his own personal locker,” Mr Wood said.
“He says that the complaints he made about the other superior Officers (sic) were made in retribution and that they were based on perceived wrongdoings.”
Mr Wood’s decision also details Mr Dyball’s unsettling behaviour in the wake of his medical retirement from the QPS in 2008 on grounds he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The tribunal heard that Mr Dyball agreed he had tweeted photographs of dead bodies — pictures he had taken himself while a police officer — using the handle “Mad Eyes” over a period of about six months last year.
The “Mad Eyes” Twitter account featured a photograph of Mr Dyball and the words “Only when one understands the nature of psychopathy and banking does the world make sense. Retweets are not endorsements, stupid. Support LEAP. I do.”
Other material was posted on an account named “Spider Jerusalem” but its contents were not addressed by QCAT.
“There are various entries on the Twitter account that concern weapons licencing and shows photographs of deceased persons with significant injuries, one of which is captioned with the applicant’s police identification number,” Mr Wood said.
“There are tweets with reference to the removal of his firearms (including one posted on)
on April 8 2016 which said: ‘Everyman should have a ute, a rifle and a chainsaw. Two
out of three is not good enough’.”
News.com.au discovered that an identical phrase remains on his Facebook account next to a 1996 photograph of him in police uniform wielding a chainsaw.
The Weapons Licensing Unit told the tribunal Mr Dyball failed to disclose his PTSD on applications for a gun licence, in which applicants are required to reveal a psychiatric condition.
The former officer admitted to having received treatment for PTSD, but argued the question did not ask if he had an illness.
He told the tribunal his PTSD “arose as a result of employment with your organisation [QPS]”.
Mr Dyball also submitted a medical certificate, written in 2015 by the Condamine Medical Centre, supporting his desire to hold a weapons licence.
“Having read the relevant documents regarding fitness to hold a gun licence and having obtained a recent report from Warwick Mental Health Service, I believe Ben is fit to hold a gun licence,” the certificate read.
In upholding the suspension of Mr Dyball’s weapons licence, Mr Wood said: “The applicant has in my view, deliberately or at least recklessly answered questions in his applications for renewal of his weapons licences in an attempt to avoid any further queries relating to his mental health and alcohol”.
Mr Dyball is due to front Warwick Magistrate’s Court on stealing and weapons charges on February 19.
News.com.au contacted Mr Dyball for comment.