Belinda Goodwin: Humiliating moment young Gold Coast mum is arrested in her underwear in front of 12-year-old daughter over trivial offence

A single mother was ‘humiliated’ after being arrested in her underwear in front of her neighbors and 12-year-old daughter over an unpaid petrol bill.

Belinda Goodwin was dragged from her Gold Coast apartment by two officers on Saturday after initially forgetting to pay for $58 in fuel when her Apple Pay app didn’t work at a petrol station in June.

Mrs Goodwin received a summons to appear in court two months later, but was under the impression that once she had paid she would no longer have to attend and the case would be over.

To her surprise, the officers showed up at her door and arrested her for failing to appear in court.

Ms Goodwin’s daughter, Summer, frantically filmed the painful moment her mother cried as she did was dragged by her arms and legs to a waiting police van.

Both Ms Goodwin and Summer described the experience as ‘humiliating’.

“It was also very humiliating for me because we just moved in, like they thought my mother had done something very wrong,” Summer told A Current Affair.

In the footage, Ms Goodwin can be heard asking what she had done to justify being dragged out of her home in front of Summer.

The officers continually asked her to “get up” after she fell to the ground several times.

Shortly after locking her mother in the back of the van, officers told Summer to stay home alone until police finished processing Ms Goodwin at the local station.

The officers returned shortly afterwards to ask the distraught girl to get a pair of trousers for Ms Goodwin as she could not go to the station in just her underwear.

The commotion quickly attracted the attention of Mrs. Goodwin’s neighbors in the apartment complex where the family had recently moved.

Ms Goodwin’s daughter Summer frantically filmed the painful moment her mother cried as she was dragged by her arms and legs to a waiting police van.

Ms Goodwin said that after receiving the summons to appear in court, she returned to the petrol station where she left, left her driver’s license behind the counter and paid the total.

The store clerk happily took her payment and told her that the predicament “happens all the time.”

Ms Goodwin targeted the police for deploying two officers to arrest her over the bill since paid, when there are much more serious crimes that require police attention.

“There are people here who like to break into, kill, stab and drive stolen cars,” she said.

Defense attorney Bill Poltz said that although Mrs. Goodwin was arrested, the real victim of the incident is her daughter.

“The real victim here was the 12-year-old child who was left traumatized,” he said.

‘The police should not have left the child alone or made better arrangements about her care.’

Ms Goodwin has asked the police to publicly apologize for the way they handled her arrest.

“I want the officers to come here and apologize to my neighbors, I want them to apologize to my daughter,” Ms. Goodwin said.

“I just want them to say sorry, like they shouldn’t have done that.”

Mrs Goodwin has asked police to publicly apologize to her daughter Summer (left) and her neighbors for the humiliating arrest

In a statement, Queensland Police confirmed it had issued an arrest warrant for Ms Goodwin over “a number of outstanding matters”.

“Officers told the woman she needed to go to the police station for a short time and then be returned home,” the statement read.

‘When the woman was told she was under arrest, she became obstructive towards the officers and refused to accompany them voluntarily, causing a 12-year-old girl on the premises to become upset.

“Given the short time the woman would be with police, neighbors cared for the child while officers treated the woman before taking her home.”

Police claim the issue of unpaid fuel was not the primary reason officers were at her home.

An examination of the officers’ body cameras showed that the officers’ behavior was appropriate.

Ny Breaking Australia has contacted Queensland Police for comment.