A confidential help line for wives of police officers was suggested today by district court judge Robert Spear.
He said there could be a need for something of that sort for spouses "who find themselves in a difficult situation at home".
The judge was sentencing a former police sergeant in Tauranga District Court on charges of assault against his wife and children.
During the trial of Whakatane police prosecutor Adrian Hilterman last month, it was revealed that senior officers visited his wife, Dr Deborah Hilterman, in 2002 to discuss acrimony in the marriage.
The general practitioner, who also served as the police doctor in Whakatane, had informally contacted police about domestic abuse.
However, she said she did not want to lay an official complaint because she was worried about her husband losing his job and wanted to make the marriage work.
Dr Hilterman finally reported instances of abuse when Hilterman left the marital home in August last year.
During today's sentencing, Judge Spear said: "What I have found difficult was Mrs Hilterman's attempt to influence the outcome of this case."
First, he cited her extensive victim impact report, saying it was "excessive" and well beyond the limits placed on her under the law. He ordered she not read the statement in court.
Then the judge revealed Dr Hilterman had attempted to telephone him directly in Hamilton "for reasons I can only speculate on".
It was fortunate, he said, that the screening process prevented the call getting through to him.
"I was left with the need to tell her, through crown counsel, that she must never attempt to do that again."
Outside the courthouse, Dr Hilterman emphatically denied she had ever tried to make personal contact with the judge and she planned to prove that.
The trial and its aftermath had been a very difficult process and she was disappointed with the sentence of 150 hours' community work, particularly for a police officer of 25 years, she said.
"I expected more."
