Holly Anne Davidson died of an unexplained catastrophic head injury in March, 2020 in Darwin, she was only 38 years old. Holly served as a Police officer in both Victoria and the Northern Territory for many years, she was also a mother. Holly was a victim of both coercive control and physical violence at the hands of her partner for many years. Her partner Matthew Kevin Lea-Smith is still a serving Police officer with the Northern Territory Police, and is now believed to be on paid sick leave.

When Holly was discovered at home acutely unwell an Ambulance and Police were called, after she was taken to hospital Police failed to declare her home a crime scene. By failing to carry out undertake basic steps such as declaring a crime scene vital evidence was likely missed which could have helped ascertain what exactly happened to Holly in the days and hours before her death. 

During Holly’s inquest in 2021 it was revealed there had been 17 prior Police involvements for varying domestic violence related incidents between Holly and Matthew. These 17 reports occurred in only 5 years, prior to Holly’s death. It is clear that Police on the occasion of her death had failed to treat it as suspicious and did not investigate the allegations against their own colleague fully and adequately. During Holly’s inquest Matthew Lea-Smith refused to answer questions as the “answers might incriminate him in an offence relating to the death”. Northern Territory Coroner Judge Greg Cavanagh stated that this is “the only time in his 25 years” he has seen a serving Police officer refuse to participate fully in a coronial inquest.  

“Why didn’t she just leave?”

This is a question that is asked repeatedly when examining FDV cases. Generally speaking, overall rates of reporting Family and Domestic Violence (FDV) to Police has historically been negatively impacted by a range of factors. It is clear that Police-recorded FDV data in Australia is wholly underestimated, this can be due to a range of reasons including but not limited to:

• Victims feeling as though they “can deal with it themselves”, or not wanting to ask for help
• Incident not being regarded as “serious”, or a criminal offence
• Victims not wanting person responsible arrested or the fear of reprisal
• Feelings of shame and/or embarrassment
• Feelings of distrust towards Police, the courts and legal processes

The reasons why a victim may have difficulty reporting FDV are magnified in a case like Holly’s especially where both the victim and offender are current or former Police officers. Holly repeatedly made remarks like “there is no point” and that she had spoken to Police and “nothing was done.” In addition to the difficulties victims face, Holly knew the system and she knew that her partner would be made aware of the allegations made and she was terrified that he, or other officers would be able to access the sensitive information given by her. 

On average it takes victims of FDV up to 7 attempts to successfully leave a dangerous relationship. However, Holly’s mother Peta has stated that before her death Holly was ready to leave and had purchased all the necessary bits and pieces for a new home, away from her partner. She was looking forward to the future with her daughter.

Holidays without Holly 

Families of victims left behind after their deaths have often stated that the holiday season can be one of the hardest things to deal with. When Peta was asked how she copes without Holly during the holiday season, Peta simply stated “I don’t, Christmas was Holly’s holiday, she was just so generous”. 

Peta especially misses shopping with Holly for Christmas gifts, hiding them in the trolley so Holly’s girls couldn’t see what they were getting. Peta misses seeing how Holly would go about decorating the house inside and out with decorations, even putting a Santa on the roof. She misses seeing Holly and her daughter seated together at their craft table, carefully making Christmas cards and decorations made complete with lots of glitter and stars. Peta spent her Christmas and New Years alone, saying that events she had been invited to were just a “bit too hard”, instead she chose to spend Christmas at home with her girls “in her own way”, remembering and missing Holly and life before her death. 

Overall, the perpetration of FDV by Police officers is a serious abuse of power and they are uniquely in the way they can use their expert knowledge and training as well as access to weapons to continually perpetrate violence against their victims. 

Peta Davidson is continuing to call for a specialised federal taskforce to be formed to investigate allegations of domestic violence involving Police members across the country, as well as a public inquiry into Police-perpetrated abuse. 

Please help bring in Holly's Law by sharing this petition. You can read Holly's story here or listen to Holly's story on the She Matters Podcast, which is available wherever you get your podcasts.

This update was penned by an Australian Femicide Watch researcher on behalf of Peta Davidson and runs with her approval.