Queensland Water Police - 'Named in Honour'

Named in honour of Lyle Maxwell Hoey

Senior Constable Lyle Maxwell Hoey was born at Bowen on 24 October 1936 to Gordon and Elizabeth Hoey. On the 5 August 1951 he commenced employment as a carpenter in Toowoomba till 1953 when he moved to Charleville. On the 14 February 1957 he was employed by the Commonwealth Housing Works at Canungra South East Queensland.

Lyle Hoey joined the Queensland Police Force as a probationary constable on the 3 March 1958 and was attached to the Police Depot Petrie Terrace, Brisbane for training till the 28 May 1958. On the 29 May 1958 he was sworn in as a Constable and transferred to Roma Street station where he remained for only a few weeks and was transferred to Thursday Island on 20 June.

On the 9 January 1961 he returned to Roma Street Station for a period of 6 months during which time he married Joan McNamee on 11 February 1961.

On the 12 June 1961 he was transferred to Rockhampton where he remained untill the 24th September 1962 when he was transferred to Gladstone. On the 29 May 1963 he was promoted to Constable First Class . On 15 July 1964 he was transferred to Emerald and then Cairns on 9 January 1969.

Senior Constable Hoey was then transferred to Mount Molloy, as Officer-in-Charge, on the 4 October 1973 where he remained till his death on Sunday, 2 November 1975.

Good Work Noted

On the 5 May 1972 the Acting Commissioner, Mr. Barlow, praised Senior Constable Hoey's good work which led to the arrest of four men on charges of breaking, entering and stealing on the Stratford Bowls Club on the 31 March 1972.

On 22 May 1975, the Commissioner, Mr Whitrod, praised Senior Constable Hoey's good work which led to the arrest and conviction of two men at the Cairns Circuit Court on a charge of Robbery with Violence.

The Incident

At about 1.15 a.m. on Sunday 2 November 1975 two men were observed by employees of the Royal Hotel, Mossman, to steal an 18 gallon keg of beer from the hotel yard and after placing it into a motor vehicle they drove off south towards Cairns. The offenders vehicle was followed by the witnesses until it turned onto the Rex Highway just south of Mossman. The witnesses returned and alerted the Mossman Police to the theft.

Senior Constable Hoey was telephoned at Mount Molloy Police Station and advised that the vehicle containing the offenders were travelling towards him. Senior Constable Hoey, driving a Police Toyota Land Cruiser, then left Mount Molloy and travelled towards the township of Julaten where he stopped just some 4 miles from the town leaving the police vehicle on the roadway and illuminated.

At about 1.45 a.m. the vehicle driven by a James Neville Murphy, 27 years of no fixed place of abode, was seen by Senior Constable Hoey travelling towards him. Senior Constable Hoey stood beside the police vehicle waving a torch in an attempt to stop the approaching vehicle when he was struck sustaining serious injuries. The passenger in the vehicle with Murphy later told police that he told Murphy a number of times to stop the vehicle as directed by Senior Constable Hoey but Murphy refused and struck the officer while travelling at approximately 65 miles per hour.

On the 3 November 1975 James Neville Murphy was charged in the Mareeba Magistrates Court with the murder of Senior Constable Hoey. A jury at his trial later found him not guilty of murder but convicted of manslaughter. Murphy was later sentenced, on appeal, to 7 years imprisonment.

Funeral

On Wednesday 5 November 1975 Senior Constable Hoey was buried at the Cairns Plaque Cemetery with full police honours following a funeral service at St. Monica's Cathedral. On the 7 November 1975 a memorial service was held at the Queensland Police Academy Chapel in Brisbane.

Qld Police Vessel Lyle M. HOEY

"LYLE M. HOEY I"
'LYLE M. HOEY I'

LYLE M. HOEY I - 2 September 1977

Built by Shark Cat on the Gold Coast at a cost of $19,000 the 'LYLE M HOEY I' was a 7 metre, glass reinforced epoxy resin catamaran powered by twin 175 h.p. outboard motors had a top speed 50 knots and a range 200 miles.

The 'LYLE M HOEY I' was officially launched on the 2 September 1977 at Cairns and was named by Mrs Joan Hoey, the widow of Senior Constable Lyle Hoey, at a ceremony attended by the Police Minister, The Honourable Tom Newbery MLA and the Acting Police Commissioner, Mr Vern MacDonald.

QPV Lyle M Hoey 2
"LYLE M. HOEY II"

LYLE M. HOEY II - 1984

'LYLE M HOEY II' was a 8 metre, glass reinforced epoxy resin catamaran powered by twin 225 h.p. outboard motors. Built by Power Cat on the Gold Coast.

The 'LYLE M HOEY II' was officially launched in Cairns in 1984.

QPV LYLE M HOEY and QPV BRETT T. HANDRAN

'LYLE M. HOEY III'

LYLE M. HOEY III - 1992

A 14.8 metre fast patrol launch the 'LYLE M HOEY III' was constructed using a triple diagonal planked hull with a dynel sheath and powered by twin 420 hp Detroit 6v92 series motors.

The 'LYLE M HOEY III' was built by Norman R Wright and Sons in 1992 at their Bulimba shipyard in Brisbane.

QPV LYLE M HOEY 4
'LYLE M. HOEY IV'

LYLE M. HOEY IV - 2009

Launched at Rosslyn Bay Boat Harbour, Yeppoon on the 11th June 2009, the "LYLE M. HOEY IV" will patrol the waters of the southern Great Barrier Reef and Pacific Ocean, out of her Rosslyn Bay, Yeppoon base.

Built at a cost of over $1m, and the first of three similar vessels ('W.CONROY V', 'BRETT T HANDRAN II' ), the 'LYLE M HOEY IV' was built by Austral at their Margate shipyard just south of Hobart, Tasmania and delivered to the Queensland Police Service in March 2009.

The 'LYLE M HOEY IV' is a 22 metre aluminium catamaran powered by two MTU Series 60 diesel engines, each rated at 499kw, with Twin Disc Quickshift MGX-51355C gearboxes driving two Bruntons five-bladed fixed pitch propellers giving a maximum speed of 26 knots (cruise speed 20 knots) and a maximum range of approximately 900 nautical miles.