A Victorian police officer found to have subjected his fiancee to “coercive control and misogynistic abuse” while he was on duty was allowed to work on full pay for almost five years while the case was investigated.
The initial decision to dismiss the officer called penalties handed to other officers found to have committed family violence “manifestly disproportionate” and “light”, with the police registration and services board, which reviews police disciplinary findings, also criticising the force for its handling of internal complaints.
The officer, Jim Morakis, was dismissed as a senior constable earlier this year as a result of conduct the police registration and services board found to have been committed in late 2018.
Morakis was guarding a man who had been arrested after a violent incident when he committed the first disciplinary breach.
The man had suffered serious injuries and was unconscious in a hospital bed after surgery when Morakis sent text messages to his fiancee which included selfies of him with the man and posing with him and a police baton, and information about the nature of the man’s injuries and the circumstances of his arrest.
On 29 December 2018, Morakis was on duty when he had an argument with his fiancee about the nature of a past relationship she had with a friend.
In the space of an hour, he sent her 58 text messages that included “You mean nothing to me you fat slut”, “Cunt like you doesn’t deserve children’ and “Get the fuck out now [you] fat ugly slut”. He also returned home and threw clothing and personal items belonging to her out of their bedroom, continually demanding that she leave immediately, and told her he had thrown away a coffee machine she had given him as a gift.
Morakis was charged with three disciplinary breaches relating to the treatment of his fiancee, taking the photograph of the man in hospital, and disclosing police information about a search for a vulnerable person.
He was dismissed in relation to the first two breaches, and appealed to the board on four grounds, including that there was a public interest in continuing to employ police who accepted responsibility for their behaviour and that the officer who investigated his conduct failed to properly consider aspects of the force’s complaints procedure and did not consider parity with other cases.
Morakis referred to four other cases that he believed demonstrated his dismissal was harsh.
Two related to family violence offences in 2021 committed by other officers: a leading senior constable who was reprimanded after physical violence and threats towards family members, and a senior constable who contravened a family violence intervention order and was handed a 12-month bond and ordered to participate in counselling.
But the police officer who investigated Morakis’s conduct told the board that she “considered the outcomes to be manifestly disproportionate noting they involved criminal offending”.
The board president, Andrea Lester, agreed with the officer, saying the penalties appeared “light”.
Lester also questioned why there was a nine-month delay between the fiancee reporting the conduct and the force starting a criminal investigation into the officer.
He was eventually charged with criminal offences relating to family violence and taking the photographs of the unconscious man, but both charges were later dropped, Lester said.
The internal disciplinary proceedings did not start until after the appeal period relating to the criminal charges was finalised, Lester said, meaning there had been a lapse of almost five years, with the officer on full pay during this entire period, between when his conduct was reported and when he was dismissed.
“The Board has been highly critical in previous decisions of what seems to be regular instances of lengthy delays in progressing discipline matters and has noted with concern the impacts of delays on subject officers, witnesses and others,” she said.
Lester also questioned the force’s handling of officers who captured and circulated photographs of the former AFL player and coach Dani Laidley in custody.
Morakis referred to one of the officers involved in the Laidley case being disciplined with a 12-month bond and $1,500 donation as an example of why it was harsh for him to be dismissed in relation to photographing the man in hospital.
“The outcomes imposed upon the group of police officers involved [in] the Laidley matter were in the Board’s view, generous to the police officers involved, given the breach of human rights and breach of trust involved,” Lester found.
• In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org.
