AFP's Daniel Jones called 'pig' in custody, granted bail over alleged dishonesty offences

An Australian Federal Police employee who was locked up after being charged with dishonesty offences has had a “particularly unpleasant” time in custody, his lawyer told a court before his client was granted bail.

He had been in complete segregation and the only time he came across other inmates was when he was being moved to another part of the jail. Someone yelled out something like, “You’re a f-ing pig, we know you’re a cop,” Peter Woodhouse of Aulich told the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday (12 February).

Daniel Robert David Jones, 30, has pleaded not guilty to charges of making a false statement for a statutory declaration and giving false or misleading information for an application.

These charges relate to his application as a protective services officer to the AFP, which allegedly involved false and misleading information, including regarding statutory declarations.

He was arrested on 12 December 2023 and then allegedly breached his bail conditions shortly after. While he was granted bail a second time, he allegedly repeatedly breached the conditions again and was remanded in custody.

His lawyer, Mr Woodhouse, applied for him to be granted bail another time on Monday, saying the second alleged breaches had been “less nefarious” and “stupid on Mr Jones’s part”.

“He’s obviously made some very unwise decisions that are not overtly nefarious,” Magistrate Glenn Theakston said.

Mr Woodhouse said his client had been in custody since mid-January, and as the media had published how he worked with the AFP and was in custody, he had been confined to the crisis support unit for his own safety to protect him from other inmates.

Most of his days were spent alone in a 3 by 2.5-metre cell, and while he did have a 2.5 by 2.5-metre cage to go into outside the cell, it smelled like “garbage”.

Mr Woodhouse said the three-and-a-half weeks he’d spent in jail had been a “particularly harrowing experience for him”, and he understood if he was given another chance to be released on bail and “blows it” he would be back in custody.

The court also heard while it had been submitted that Mr Jones was a police officer, he was actually a protective services officer.

His lawyer said his “job was his life and he was suspended on the spot”.

The prosecutor, who opposed bail, said the second alleged bail breach, in which he drove past a witness’s home while honking his horn several times, could be seen to be intimidating.

He argued there was a significant risk Mr Jones would try to contact the witness again.

Magistrate Theakston ultimately said his weeks in custody would have sent him a message that it was in his interests to comply with bail.

He granted bail on several conditions, including that he not be in the suburb where the witness lives, only have one mobile phone and give it to police when requested.

The matter was adjourned to 22 February.