Brave eight-year-old girl takes the stand in court against her grub ex-cop father to reveal his sickening campaign of abuse

The little girl of an abusive former detective has bravely fronted court with her mother to detail the violence they suffered.

For five long years, Matthew Alan Thomson, 42, scared his wife and young daughter into silence by instilling a fear that he would ‘kill’ them.

But on Tuesday, the former South Australian cop was forced to listen as the pair detailed his horrific abuse.

Stella Magnisalis told the South Australian District Court how she and her daughter, now 8, suffered ‘slow, deliberate, calculated’ violence at the hands of the once decorated cop, all while he was protected by his colleagues.

Thomson earlier pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault and one count of aggravated assault causing harm.

Ms Magnisalis’ courage has been inherited by her daughter, who resolutely detailed violence that no child should be exposed to.

She had a powerful message to the man she now only refers to by his name. 

‘I’ve seen my mum cry many times and I didn’t know why,’ the girl told the court through videolink. 

Stella Magnisalis (left) on Tuesday bravely told South Australian District Court the abuse she and her daughter suffered at the hands of Matthew Thomson

Matthew Alan Thomson (pictured) was a formerly decorated SA Police detective

‘Now I know that it was because Matthew is a bully.

‘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.’

The eight-year-old added her life had improved since Thomson’s arrest, the Adelaide Advertiser reported.

‘He is no longer hurting anyone I love’, she said. 

Ms Magnisalis recalled Thomson stomping on her, hitting her and kicking her head ‘like a ball’.

‘My silence was not consent. I was trained to be obedient, to hide my pain,’ she said in her harrowing victim impact statement. 

‘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.’ 

Ms Magnisalis and her young daughter displayed incredible courage in court on Tuesday

Matthew Thomson (pictured as a police officer) allegedly suffered violence in his own home as a child at the hands of his veteran father

The brutality continued even while Ms Magnisalis was pregnant.

‘I was covered in bruises, calling it love and devotion,’ she recalled.

‘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.’

Her home became a prison while her attacker was protected by the ‘boys in blue’.

‘My calls to the police were never truly heard and always overlooked,’ Ms Magnisalis   said.

Supporters both inside and out of the courtroom applauded after the pair finished reading their statements.

An emotional Ms Magnisalis received a huge cheer and more applause as she left the court flanked by an army of supporters.

‘He can’t hurt us anymore,’ she told reporters.

Thomson, 42, has moved to Queensland with his new wife.

She knows of his crimes but continues to support him.

They have just welcomed a baby son. 

His lawyer Peter Morrison told the court that Thomson had suffered violence in his own home as a child at the hands of his veteran father.

Ms Magnisalis (centre) was applauded as she left the court

However, Judge Anthony Allen determined Thomson’s role as a police officer needed to be reflected in his sentencing.

‘There needs to be an element of sentence that denounces the fact that someone who’s responsible for enforcing the law has broken it,’ he said. 

Thomson will face court again in June but is unlikely to be sentenced until later this year. 

Both he and his wife refused to comment outside court.

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