A 190cm police officer beats the proverbial out of his 160cm wife and gets a $2000 fine. Oh, sure he won’t do it again, he’s sorry.
I think my favourite line is:
Westergerling’s lawyer applied for a spent conviction order, arguing a conviction would unfairly impact on both his career with the police force and work as a model.
Big man didn’t give much thought to the impact his fists and feet would have on his wife.
Justice is obviously not simply blind, but stupid as well. Makes me sick as well as enraged.
Hmmm. At first glance, I’m with you entirely. But on reading it through, I noticed the part where the wife wants to reconcile with him, and has made submissions to the court “in praise” of the man – and her mother has done likewise.
So.
Yeah, the sentence is manifestly wrong… but if what’s there is correct, then if you imprison this man, you also punish the original victim of the crime. Give him a custodial sentence, record a felony: take away his ability to continue supporting his family as a police officer permanently. And at least temporarily, turn the victim (unwillingly) into a single parent, with sole responsibility for two children.
This can not have been easy for the magistrate. I’d have had a damned hard time with it. Police officers in particular should set an example, and domestic violence is simply not acceptable. But — who are we seeking to protect, here? And who are we punishing?
I don’t believe he’s earned absolution. I note he’s seeing a psychologist, and hopefully there are other measures in place. Hopefully he’s under close observation, and will be for as long as it takes.
But in the end… I’ve been in the role of ‘single parent’ for a couple weeks at a time. And if the victim of this crime manifestly does not want a custodial sentence imposed, I think I agree with the magistrate. The poor woman has copped enough already. Whatever sentence is imposed on the man who did this, it should NOT impact negatively upon her, or her children.
Alas, the chances are that this is not a one-off incident, that it is merely the most visible of a long line of abusive incidences. In DV, women tend to back down after ‘sincere’ apologies by husbands and partners – and they end up right back in the firing line. The choice of economics over not being beaten and not having your children see you being beaten is distressing. In staying, you tell your sons that this is okay and you tell your daughters this is the best they can expect from a relationship.
A police officer is meant to uphold the law – all the laws, not just the ones he likes. He doesn’t get to choose to break the ones against domestic violence. He has contravened the code of conduct set down for his kind. And quite frankly, if the cops get away with beating their spouses then how the fuck can they go out and arrest any of the other lowlife bastards who think taking their anger out of women and children is okay?
And in all elements, I agree with you. Every step.
But what the hell is a magistrate supposed to do? Bound by law, he/she has to make a decision that affects a bunch of lives. And if the victim of the crime is pleading on behalf of the perpetrator — it’s very damned difficult.
I really don’t envy the judge here. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed and hope like hell that the woman on the wrong end of all of this never has cause to regret her choices.
…but like you, I know the value of crossing one’s fingers and hoping.