A WOMAN slain in broad daylight just hours after going to court over an intervention order concerning the man now accused of her murder was planning to start a new life in regional Victoria.

Fiona Warzywoda, 33, was stabbed to death outside her solicitor’s office on Wednesday, shortly after leaving court.

Her de facto, Craig McDermott, 38, faced court yesterday charged with her murder.

media_camera Fiona Warzywoda was stabbed to death in Sunshine. media_camera Emergency services at the scene of the Sunshine stabbing. Picture: Twitter@cjeales

Magistrate Peter Reardon on Thursday granted the Herald Sun permission to report the existence of an intervention order between Ms Warzywoda and her former partner.

He refused an application on behalf of Chief Commissioner Ken Lay to suppress this, saying the matter should not be hidden.

ROSIE BATTY: IT IS TIME TO MAKE IT RIGHT

He said the issue had been highlighted following the recent murder of young schoolboy Luke Batty.

“In this particular case it seems clear ... at this stage, that an affected family member had attended at Sunshine Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

“Subsequently she was murdered,” Mr Reardon said.

“In my view, in light of a number of recent events ... in these circumstances it is in the public interest.”

media_camera Floral tributes left at the scene of Ms Warzywoda’s death. Picture:Nicole Garmston

Police say Ms Warzywoda was killed in front of dozens of witnesses, and the stabbing may have been captured on CCTV cameras.

It is believed Mr McDermott’s son from another relationship, who is aged in his early 20s, was at the scene of the killing in Sunshine.

Friends of Ms Warzywoda told the Herald Sun she had not been pregnant, as some media had reported, and that her 15-year-old daughter had not been at the scene.

They said she had broken up with Mr McDermott, with whom she has four children, aged five to 15, just before Christmas and had been planning a new life in Bendigo.

media_camera Mother ‘stabbed to death by partner’

Mr McDermott, his arm bandaged and dressed in a grey jumper and jeans, sat flanked by two security guards during his court appearance.

He had been taken to the emergency room at the Western Hospital in Footscray after surrendering to police at Sunshine police station.

The court heard he had injured his hand, which would require further medical attention, and it was his first time being held in custody.

Prosecutor Tim Bourbon asked Mr Reardon to allow police 10 weeks to prepare a brief of evidence.

He said many eyewitnesses to the killing had to be interviewed.

Police would also need to scour hours of CCTV footage which may have captured the killing, he said.

media_camera The hunt for clues. Picture: David Smith

MAKE IT A CRIME AGAINST STATE

A CHILD protection expert has called for tougher family violence laws and a renewed push to convict more men who break intervention orders.

Australian Childhood Foundation chief executive Joe Tucci said changes to the law were needed, to treat family violence as a crime against the state rather than against an individual.

Dr Tucci said this would put the onus on police to pursue a case through to prosecution, and put less pressure on victims to be at the centre of proceedings.

“The impetus moves from the victim to the state, to prosecute these forms of violence,” he said.

“It’s not up to the victim to press charges, they become witnesses.”

Dr Tucci also said “there should not be discretion in convicting men for even the smallest of failures to comply with intervention orders”.

The Herald Sun understands authorities are still examining approaches to family violence and intervention orders after the death of Luke Batty, killed by his dad in Tyabb.

The Department of Human Services, police, and the Department of Justice are meeting fortnightly to examine connections between parolees, intervention orders and child protection orders, in a bid to improve responses to the issue.

Police are grappling with a big increase in reported family violence, with court figures showing that there has been a 42 per cent increase in intervention orders in the past five years.

Police statistics released earlier this year showed there were 20,418 breaches of intervention orders in 2013, up by 40 per cent from the previous year.