Sisters of officer killed by Dezi Freeman plan to sue police for negligence, lawyer says | Australian police and policing
The sisters of Neal Thompson, one of two police officers shot dead by Dezi Freeman in Porepunkah last August, plan to sue Victoria police for negligence following an investigation into the officers’ deaths, their lawyers have said.
Police liability lawyer Jeremy King, who represents Dianne Thompson and Lois Kirk, confirmed on Sunday that the sisters would bring negligence proceedings against Victoria police following the conclusion of the criminal investigation. The date of the investigation has not yet been announced.
According to ABCIn his case, the legal action relates to a decision last year not to deploy specialist forces to execute a search warrant against Freeman.
Freeman was shot dead on an isolated property at Thologolong in Victoria’s north-east on March 30 after being on the run for seven months after allegedly killing detective Thompson, 59, and senior constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, 34, and seriously wounding a third on August 26 last year.
The officers were part of a group of 10 local police officers and members of the sex crimes and child abuse investigation team that executed the search warrant against Freeman.
Thompson’s sisters wrote a letter to Victoria police chief Mike Bush in December. In the letter, they described being “ignored” by police and said they had not received adequate support or updates on the progress of the investigation into Freeman’s whereabouts after their brother’s death.
“We expected pain, we expected heartbreak, but we didn’t expect to feel invisible,” they wrote in the letter seen by Guardian Australia.
“From the moment we were notified of Neal’s death by phone rather than in person, we felt as if the magnitude of the loss had not been appreciated.
“Instead, we were left alone in a room with news that was tearing us apart. No support came, no face we could talk to, no hand on our shoulder. Only silence.”
In the joint letter, one of the sisters described going to the coroner’s court to view their brother’s body. “Nobody knew who I was. I had to say the words myself: ‘My brother is dead, and I am his sister.’ That moment will stay with me forever.”
The letter stated that the sisters felt “invisible” and “invisible” during events including Thompson’s funeral, where they and other relatives were seated away from the front of the chapel, and that they had not yet been notified that their attendance expenses would be refunded.
“Our grief is heavy, but it is made heavier by how alone we feel in this pain,” they wrote.
“We are not writing this letter out of anger. We are proud of Neal, always will be. But we are also heartbroken to feel abandoned in the midst of this tragedy.”
In a statement, Victoria Police said it “recognised that the last seven months have been an incredibly difficult time following the incident in Porepunkah, particularly for the families of the two murdered police officers.”
Thompson’s family members have been in contact with De Waart-Hottart and the third officer and said they are “taking every step to ensure they are kept up to date and support services are available.”
“However, we also accept that there were some issues raised by the sisters of Chief Superintendent Neal Thompson and that the police met with them directly as a result of a letter they sent to the Chief Superintendent,” he said.
“While every effort is made to provide timely information to all families involved, we are always conscious of the need to manage ongoing investigations.”
