Print | Send to friend | Email update

Related Articles Upset father says he will turn himself in Fugitive father seeks appeal hearing

Couple speak out about Victim Support

Mar 23, 2005 1:21 PM

Stephen and Diane Jelicich were a couple whose split became as acrimonious as it can get.

It culminated in January with Stephen running off with their baby daughter Caitlin and hiding from police for 10 days.

Diane went back to Wales not knowing where her daughter was or when she would see her again. But the couple believe it should never have been that bad.

They told Close Up they blame Victim Support for creating the situation which made Stephen take Caitlin.

It all started on December 22 when Stephen called police claiming Diane had assaulted him and damaged his eardrum.

A few hours later police and Victim Support arrived and took Diane and Caitlin to Women's Refuge while Stephen was out.

At the same time, a warrant was issued for his arrest. However, the couple did not signal they wanted to be separated.

While it was Stephen that was the alleged victim that day, it was Diane and Caitlin that were rescued by Victim Support.

Diane maintains she never called police or Victim Support. "Yet they showed up and took us away," Diane says.

But the chief executive of  Victim Support, Steve Caldwell, maintains Diane asked to be taken to the refuge.

"No one was taken away from the house, Victim Support assisted Diane to access a service which she felt she needed at the time," he says.

Diane rejects this and says her 11-year-old daughter can verify she did not ask her support worker to help her leave.

Stephen says he was given a different version of events. He says Victim Support first told him that the police had called them [Victim Support] and they had to act on the police requests.

Police won't reveal how they got involved that day but Diane has tried unsuccessfully to get some answers from the Victim Support district manager.

Victim Support is a volunteer organisation that relies on funding and donations to operate. They work with police and justice officials and their work load is staggering. In one year, they have contact with 140,000 victims. Not surprisingly, resourcing and funding is always tight. 

"The workload in this area is immense. It means we can't deliver the level of support we would like in all circumstances. So that means we need to prioritise and often a person may get a level of support less what they actually need," Caldwell says.

"In our case it's been shown that can pick up the phone say whatever they like and get police officers to enforce their views. They need to be accountable - they just can't play God with people's families," Stephen says.

Citing the Privacy Act, Stephen wrote to Victim Support requesting any information they had on him.

He got some information, but it was the file for another Stephen Jelicich. "Basically they had given me someone else's private information," Stephen says.

Caldwell says he is "very concerned' about this will inquire into why it happened.

The couple are now trying to resolve their differences and sort out custody over their daughter.