A South Australian mother has told her ex-cop husband what his years of abuse did to her.
Stella Magnisalis detailed in court how her former husband Matthew Alan Thomson made her and their daughter fear for their lives.
The Advertiser report that over a four-year period, Thomson abused, isolated and degraded Magnisalis, who says the torment didn’t even end when she was pregnant with his child.
Thomson pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault and one count of aggravated assault causing harm on Tuesday at the South Australian District Court.
There Magnisalis and their eight-year-old daughter Frances told the court what he put them through.
She described his abuse as “slow, deliberate, calculated” and that after he hurt her he would continue on with his days working in the family violence sector.
“My silence was not consent. I was trained to be obedient, to hide my pain,” Magnisalis said.
“You broke things to scare me, and eventually I was one of them. My home became a prison and I lived in constant fear. To this day, I still believe that you’re going to kill me.”
She said over the years he also physically abused her by stomping on her and kicking her head “like a ball”.
“I was covered in bruises, calling it love and devotion,” she said.
“I lost everything. Bruises on my neck, my face, my arms, my legs have healed, but the damage of the pain is still in my body.
“Even while I was pregnant, the assaults never stopped. I thought carrying a child might spare me, but the terror, the torment, the dehumanisation never stopped.
“Every year on my birthday, I cannot erase the smell, the texture, feeling utterly degraded after you wiped faeces on my face. Every year, that moment lives inside me.”
Their daughter Frances said her life has changed because her father is “no longer hurting anyone I love”.
“I’ve seen my mum cry many times and I didn’t know why,” she said. “Now I know that it was because Matthew is a bully,” she said.
“I still remember when you slapped my face and gave me a blood nose. Don’t contact me. I don’t want to see you. What you did to my mum was disgusting, gross and unacceptable. You are not my father.”
Thomson, 42, now lives in Queensland with a new wife, with who he just welcomed a new born son.
The court heard that he had a troubling childhood and was a victim of his father’s violence in the home.
Judge Anthony Allen said that the fact Thomson was a serving police officer during the offending needs to be accounted for.
His sentencing is set for June.
