BY CALLUM GOODE and MELISSA MEHEHAN for AAP
Idolised and adored for his “Steve Irwin gene”, a retiring policeman has been hailed for the relentless bravery that ultimately robbed him of his life.
Family, friends, colleagues and political leaders were among the estimated 3000 people who farewelled Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson 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 tributes for the man affectionately known as “Thommo”.
She met Det Sen Const Thompson, a mad fisherman, shooter and Essendon supporter, 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 the packed crowd in the on-site chapel.
“I had never laughed so much with someone I’d just met.”
They were “opposites in every way” but “unstoppable” together.
Det Sen Const Thompson formed a close bond with her children, greeting them each day with “hey midget have you done your push ups”.
The couple’s last weekend was spent working on their farm before wining and dining and gazing at the stars, leaving nothing unsaid.
Sgt Thompson said he taught her how to love without fear and how to be brave when scared.
“Honey, I’m so grateful you did because I am scared,” the Benalla-based sergeant said.
“I don’t want to live my life without you and I don’t want to finish our dreams on my own. But I will, I promise.”
Photos of Det. Sen. Constable Thompson were on display in the chapel along with four medals, including a posthumously awarded Victoria Police Star.
When talking about his will, he once quipped he didn’t need one because he was never going to die.
“If only that was true,” his sister Lois Kirk said through tears.
“You were the golden boy, the adventurer, the protector.”
Det. Sen. Constable Thompson joined the police in 1987 and worked his way up to 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” despite having previously been shot, stabbed, rolled cars and beaten by cancer.
“He had also been in 16 police collisions, actually 17 – that was a couple of weeks ago,” he said.
Det. Sen. Constable Thompson was due to work his last shift on September 5 and had said he was “going to miss this stuff” ahead of his retirement.
The 38-year career veteran was “robbed of a very well-deserved retirement”, Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said.
Leading Senior Constable Timothy Doyle said the stalwart detective was the man officers went to if they needed to get a crook to talk or something found in a raid.
“You went through the door first and I owe you my life for that,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of Det. Sen. Constable Thompson’s fishing, hunting, soccer, rock-climbing and farming mates, Jason Williams said he had the “Steve Irwin gene”.
That was on show 20 years ago when the pair went on a trip 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,” his long-time friend said.
Uniformed police formed a guard of honour stretching hundreds of metres for the hearse carrying the officer’s coffin.
The scene mirrored Friday’s service for Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, who lost his life in the same incident.
The 34-year-old’s Belgian parents attended Monday’s service, along with the third injured officer who survived the alleged ambush by Freeman, who remains on the run.
