Victoria Police has apologised to a woman who suffered domestic abuse at the hands of a serving officer, admitting the case was mishandled and that information about her plans to escape her attacker was wrongly shared around a Melbourne police station.
Key points:
- Woman bashed by police officer, who was later jailed for assault
- Victim’s plan to flee interstate was compromised by police
- Senior officer, advocates call for overhaul of investigations
The incidents prompted senior police to concede “gross errors of judgment” had been made, and for Police Minister Lisa Neville to raise concerns with Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton.
It comes as new figures released by Victoria Police have shown 41 officers were charged with family violence offences in 2018 and 2019.
The woman at the centre of the case, Michelle*, endured physical, verbal and emotional abuse from her former partner, John*, and claims investigators “verbally admonished” her for making a complaint.
“[They said] I was stupid for putting it in writing because now they’d have to do L17s, which is referrals to the family violence unit,” she said.
In October 2018, Michelle wrote to a Detective Sergeant at a Melbourne police station, telling her she planned to flee to Sydney to escape her former partner.
Police documents showed that this information was shared with John’s manager, and Michelle was later told by an inspector that there was a “rumour circulating” that she planned to blindside her former partner.
“It’s a breach of the law — they think the law doesn’t apply to them.”
In July 2019, after a year-long investigation, John was charged with 70 offences, including two arising from alleged choking incidents and several from a severe bashing witnessed by Mi