‘Steve Irwin gene’: tributes flow for slain veteran cop
Callum Godde and Melissa Meehan |
Tears have flowed, mixed with laughter, for a larger-than-life veteran policeman gunned down just over a week before he was supposed to retire.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson was farewelled with full police honours in a funeral at the Victoria Police Academy on Monday.
The 59-year-old was one of two officers killed on August 26 while serving a warrant on Dezi Freeman at a property in Porepunkah, about 300km northeast of Melbourne.
His partner, Sergeant Lisa Thompson, broke down while leading the tributes for the man affectionately known as “Thommo”.
She met Det Sen Const Thompson in 2016 after arriving at Wangaratta Police Station as a constable.
“We worked one shift together and it changed the course of my life,” Sgt Thompson told mourners.
“I had never laughed so much with someone and as I drove home that night reflecting on my day, I knew with absolute certainty that I wanted to be a detective.”
They were “opposites in every way” but “unstoppable” together, and he formed a close bond with her children.
“He greeted the kids each day by saying, ‘hey midget have you done your push ups’,” the Benalla-based sergeant said.
Their last weekend was spent working on their farm before wining and dining under the stars, leaving nothing unsaid.
“I don’t want to live my life without you and I don’t want to finish our dreams on my own,” Sgt Thompson said.
“But I will, I promise.
“I will be brave, I will love you, I will honour and cherish every moment that I spent with you.”
Several photos of Det Sen Const Thompson were on display in the chapel along with four medals, including a posthumously awarded Victoria Police Star.
A photo collage was shown, accompanied by Cher’s If I Could Turn Back Time.
His sister Lois Kirk told mourners she once chatted to her brother about his will.
He quipped he didn’t need one because he was never going to die.
“If only that was true,” she said through tears.
“You were the golden boy, the adventurer, the protector.”
Det Sen Const Thompson joined the police in 1987 and worked his way up to being a detective at the Major Fraud Squad and the State Crime Squad, before shifting to Wangaratta to join the Crime Investigation Unit in 2007.
Colleague Paul Campbell said he made coming to work a pleasure and thought he was “indestructible”.
“Neal had previously been shot, stabbed, rolled cars and beaten cancer,” he added.
“He had also been in 16 police collisions, actually 17 – that was a couple of weeks ago.”
Det Sen Const Thompson was due to work his last shift on September 5 and had said ahead of his retirement he was “going to miss this stuff”.
Speaking on behalf of Det Sen Const Thompson’s mates, Jason Williams said he had the “Steve Irwin gene” and told mourners about a trip 20 years ago to the Top End.
“Out of the blue, he started walking barefoot through the long grass after a king brown snake, dragging six-foot sharks into a 12-foot boat or jumping waist deep into waters inhabited by crocodiles,” he said.
Mr Williams said his friend would give you the shirt off his back and his last dollar, and urged those with him at the time of his death not to blame themselves.
“We know who to blame,” he said.
Uniformed members of the force formed a guard of honour after the service, as they did for Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, who lost his life in the same incident.
Sen Const de Waart-Hottart’s parents also attended the service, along with the third injured officer who survived the alleged ambush by Freeman, who remains on the run.
AAP
