A NSW police prosecutor assaulted his then wife as she held their newborn baby while recovering from birth complications, a court has heard.
MZ, whose identity the court suppressed to protect the victim, was taken into custody in July, after a jury convicted him of 11 offences related to domestic violence.
These include two counts of sexual intercourse without consent, two counts of common assault, five counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, intentionally choke a person without consent, and sexually touch another person without consent.
The 50-year-old man, a police prosecutor whose career with the force spanned more than two decades, appeared via audio-visual link in the NSW District Court.
He sat idle and expressionless as his ex-wife and her two children read victim impact statements.
“You did not simply hurt me, you changed the course of my life and the life of my children,” his ex-wife read from the courtroom.
She read through pages of testimony maintaining composure, but her voice began to waver when she detailed the abuse her children had to witness.
“After the C-section of our second child, you assaulted me when I was recovering from complications,” she said.
“I was physically weak and recovering…My eldest daughter had to intervene to protect me from you.“
One incident, she said, caused her to realise he would not change.
“The time when you assaulted me when I held our child was one of the most frightening moments.
“Even holding our baby was not enough to stop you. That’s when I began to understand that nothing would make you stop.”
The court heard that she faced a power imbalance when accusing a police prosecutor of domestic violence offences.
“The blue shirt you hid behind was meant to represent safety…instead it became the same blue shirt I learnt to fear,” she said.
She also said the years spent pursuing the matter through the courts forced her to relive trauma.
“You do not get to write the end of my story,” she said. “I survived everything you did. I survived you.”
The court heard the abuse left her two children suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and living with a distrust of law enforcement.
Court heard MZ was sexually abused as a child
Judge Philip Hogan heard closing arguments as members of MZ’s family watched from the gallery, among them his father, brothers and sister.
The defence, represented by barrister Arjun Chhabra, said the serious offences warranted a jail sentence of just under 10 years after mitigating factors were considered.
“MZ described an incident of sexual abuse when he was a child by a trusted figure,” the court heard.
Mr Chhabra said his client had been diagnosed with PTSD, and that his work as a police prosecutor exposed him to criminal matters that left him triggered — particularly around an incident of domestic violence in 2020.
“It is likely that his symptoms reduced his capacity to manage stress during periods of heightened conflict,” Mr Chhabra said.
He said MZ’s career in the NSW Police Force would make him a target in jail, and that the time he would serve in protective custody would be more onerous.
“That he may come face to face with people he arrested or prosecuted…that is a real punishment… and that ought to be reflected in the sentencing exercise,” Mr Chhabra said.
‘No expression of remorse’
The Crown, represented by barrister Rohan Cooley, said a serving police officer should have known better.
“The offender must have known because he was a police officer that this would be a consequence,” he said.
He acknowledged the report of sexual abuse and PTSD, but did not believe it “impaired his ability to appreciate the seriousness or potential consequences of his actions”.
Mr Cooley told the court MZ had shown no sense of wrongdoing over his actions.
“There’s clearly no expression of remorse,” he said.
The defence had previously acknowledged the absence of an expression of remorse.
Judge Hogan adjourned the matter for sentencing at Gosford District Court on December 11.
He has been suspended from the NSW Police Force without pay while his employment is under review.
Source: www.abc.net.au
