Slain woman Kelly Thompson had called police 38 times, inquest hears

Kelly Thompson was killed in her Point Cook home in February last year. Picture: Nicole Garmston Source: News Corp Australia

 

A WOMAN called police 38 times in the weeks before she died at the hands of her violent former partner, who had tried to run her over and strangle her before he stabbed her to death. 

An inquest heard Customs broker Kelly Thompson, 43, had taken legal steps to protect herself from Wayne Wood, who killed her at her Point Cook home in February 2014.

Their bodies were discovered by police three days later.

A coronial inquest has today heard Wood tried to strangle Ms Thompson, run her over and had stalked her on a number of occasions in the lead-up to their deaths.

Counsel Assisting the Coroner, Rachel Ellyard, told the hearing Ms Thompson had phoned police at least 38 times in the weeks before she died.

“Kelly died in her home, she died in bed, but she died violently,” Ms Ellyard said this morning.

Ms Thompson’s mother, Wendy, told the inquest the death of Luke Batty, who was killed by his father a day after her daughter’s murder was discovered, had compounded her grief.

Mrs Thompson broke down as she read from a lengthy witness statement during the first day of the inquest into her daughter’s violent end.

“We will never see Kelly’s beautiful, smiling face again, or hear her laugh.

“There is no more Kelly, no more little ray of sunshine, and there should be. Kelly’s death should never have happened. It was preventable,” she said.

Mrs Thompson said she and her family held a deep anger for Victoria Police, who she claimed didn’t arrest Wood for breaching a court order.

“Kelly might still be alive,” she said.

Mrs Thompson said Kelly was denied critical information from authorities that could’ve saved her, saying she wasn’t told the immediate period following separation was the most dangerous for victims of domestic abuse.

She also claimed there had been a conflict of interest in local detectives investigating her daughter’s death given the alleged failure of police in her area to intervene in the lead-up to her murder.

She said in the aftermath of Kelly’s death a compassionate detective had told her “down the track we’re going to be shown to have stuffed up here.”

Shawn Donnelly, who set up an importing/exporting business venture with Ms Thompson and Wood, said Wood was often drunk and aggressive during a business trip to China and the Philippines in late 2013.

Mr Donnelly said Wood was also jealous and “was going off his tree” when Ms Thompson was briefly escorted somewhere by a Philippine local.

“I remember him saying he was going to kill himself and he was going to kill her, too,” Mr Donnelly said.
The inquest heard Ms Thompson has whispered to a passer-by in Wood’s presence to call police after claiming he had tried to choke her.

Point Cook man Steven Hall said he had been confronted by Wood driving erratically in the area on January 1, 2014, before seeing Ms Thompson walking down the street in a distressed state.

“I asked her if she was okay and she replied, ‘not really. My partner tried to strangle me’,” Mr Hall said.
He said Wood then drove back and almost wedged Ms Thompson between Wood’s car and his before saying “get the f--- out of here.”

“I was told by (my partner) Judy that this woman had whispered to her to call the police,” he said.
A triple-0 recording of Mr Hall’s phone call to police minutes after the confrontation was played to the court and he said he later saw a police car outside Ms Thompson’s home.

news.com.au  17 June 2015

More news from a corrupt orgnisation commonly known as Victoria Police.

VicPol are not there for for the protection of the public, as commonly misconceived, but rather a corporation subservient to KPI's and revenue raising.

There are many more deaths and crimes that VicPol has concealed that will not be reported by the corporate media, but rather by the 'whistle blowers'.