Terri McRae wants Ottawa police held accountable for celebrating in the courtroom after her elderly father was sentenced to life in prison for murdering her brother.

Her life has been shattered, she said, and the actions of the officers only made it worse.

John McRae stabbed his son Michael McRae multiple times on July 7, 2015, court heard during his trial.

He was found guilty of second-degree murder in June, and now the elderly man is in prison after being sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 12 years.

Both McRaes had substance abuse problems, neighbours testified they had a long history of arguing, and court heard Michael McRae sometimes abused his father.

John McRae, seen in this court sketch, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 12 years after murdering his son in 2015. (Lauren Foster-MacLeod/CBC)

'Extremely hurtful'

Terri McRae was devastated after the verdict was read, she said, and seeing police slapping each other on the back and giving high-fives was like adding salt to the wound.

"You would just expect [them] to have a more professional decorum in the courtroom," she said.

"It was extremely hurtful. It took a situation that was already devastating and they just stepped all over us."

Retired police officer Doug Kirkland said officers work hard to help secure verdicts and feel elated when they accomplish that. (CBC)

Terri McRae has filed an official complaint with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, a civilian oversight agency. She has agreed to mediation as a first step toward resolving the complaint.

The Ottawa police media relations office, Chief Charles Bordeleau's office and Ottawa Police Association president Matt Skof all declined to comment, citing the ongoing complaint.

'It feels like a reward,' retired officer says

Doug Kirkland, a retired Ottawa police officer, said he sympathizes with McRae but also understands the excitement of the officers.

He wasn't in the courtroom, but described the judicial process as a contest and said detectives work hard to get cases through to conclusion.

"It feels like a reward and with the more complicated cases you end up spending hours and hours and hours, just days trying to figure out how this is going to come together," Kirkland said.

"If you are on the side that was vindicated, you are going to have a great deal of elation about it and you're going to feel good."

He added that the system does need to provide more support to victims, and that many people have concerns about the process and don't know where to turn.

"When people walk into a courtroom it is a situation that is completely foreign to them," he said.