Off-duty officer rescues couple being hunted in their home

An off-duty Brisbane police officer holidaying on North Stradbroke Island has come to the rescue of a couple being hunted in their own home by a machete-wielding neighbour.

Senior Constable Jeff Nielsen had escaped with his family to peaceful Amity Point for a break, but trouble came looking for him.

Hearing screams from a Kawana Street home a few doors down, the unarmed off-duty officer ran to help when he was confronted by a man with a machete, trying to smash his way into a bathroom where a couple in their late 50s were cowering.

The husband had been slashed on the face while trying to barricade them in.

“What I did last night was not anything more than any of my fellow colleagues would have done,” Snr Constable Nielsen said.

“I was just pleased to be in the right place at the right time.”

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Snr Constable Nielsen usually works at the South Brisbane Police Station in the tactical crime squad.

His colleagues are praising his bravery after he managed to distract the attacker long enough for reinforcements to arrive and arrest him.

Shane Trevor McLachlan, a local fisherman and long-time neighbour, was charged with a string of offences including attempted murder.

Seven News understands his alleged victims hardly knew him.

They are too traumatised to talk, never imagining their island oasis could be the scene of such a terrifying incident.