The ex-wife of a former South Australian police officer has bravely stood up in court to call out the violent abuse that he inflicted on her and their young daughter.
The packed public gallery erupted into applause as Stella Magnisalis finished telling her ex-husband Matthew Thomson exactly how his years-long campaign of abuse had affected her.
That applause continued outside from an army of supporters.
Magnisalis and her daughter endured unimaginable assaults at the hands of Thomson over five years.
Speaking over videolink at just eight years old, the little girl’s words had no less power.
“I still remember when you slapped my face and gave me a blood nose. You’re not my father,” she said.
Thomson, a former detective, was forced to listen to a woman who was kept silent for far too long as she stared him down and detailed his slow, deliberate, calculated offending that was hidden from the world.
She said her home became a prison with her attacker protected by the “boys in blue”.
“My calls to the police were never truly heard and always overlooked,” she said.
“I’ll continue to tell my story so men like you don’t kill us.”
Thomson pleaded guilty to six counts of assault.
He wants to avoid prison out of fear of how a former cop may be treated inside.
Thomson will be back in court in June but he is unlikely to be sentenced until later in the year.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
