A former Sydney police officer who repeatedly bashed a woman, once knocking her unconscious, made her scared to report the assaults because of his position and convinced her to give police a fake name for him, court documents reveal.
Jonathan Charles Bettles, who was previously a senior constable attached to a specialist command within the NSW Police Force, pleaded guilty in December to 14 charges after more than two years of violence against the woman, who cannot be identified.
Bettles, 37, told the woman he would “ruin” her business if she complained to the police, and the victim was also worried police would not assist her as Bettles was friends with officers at the local station.
On another occasion, when the woman wanted Bettles “out of her life”, she called triple zero, but he grabbed the phone from her and hung up.
As the operator kept trying to call the woman back, Bettles told her “don’t answer, they can’t do nothing”. When she eventually answered she told police “everything was fine, and not to worry”, but was informed they would either come to her home or she needed to go to the police station.
Bettles, who travelled with the victim to the police station, told her: “Just tell them some bullshit story and give them a fake name, they can’t do anything.”
Inside, the woman told police “she had an argument with a ‘John Smith’ and gave fake details”, the facts state.
Source: 12ft