00:00Friends who were in court to support domestic violence survivor Stella applaud as she leaves.
00:09Stella detailed horrific abuse that she experienced at the hands of her ex-husband and former detective Matthew Thompson.
00:17The 42-year-old, who worked for SAPOL up until 2017, has pleaded guilty to six assault charges between April 2013 and February 2018.
00:28Stella telling the court she would no longer be silenced.
00:32I will continue to tell my story to fight for our future so men like you do not kill us.
00:38Your Honour, I stand here in front of you, not broken but determined.
00:42Our community deserves to be protected from individuals like Thompson.
00:47Stella says when she reached out to SAPOL she was failed.
00:51I was left feeling abused all over again.
00:53What's clear is the system failed to protect me.
00:57I escaped the relationship several times.
01:00Missed opportunities to intervene were used to protect you by the boys in blue.
01:05The couple's eight-year-old daughter also providing a victim impact statement.
01:09I still remember when you slapped my face and you gave me a blood nose.
01:13What you did to my mum was disgusting, gross and unacceptable.
01:17I don't want to see you.
01:18I don't want to see you.
01:19You're not my father.
01:21In explanation for his offending, his lawyers said that Thompson experienced abuse at the hands of his own father.
01:28He asked the court to suspend any jail term, saying given his previous employment as a police officer, he was at risk of experiencing hardship while in prison.
01:37But the prosecution disagreed, saying given the gravity of the offending, a term of imprisonment is the only appropriate sentence.
01:47Thompson will return to court in June.
01:49.
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