He’d found university wasn’t for him, and Victoria Police offered a roundabout way to achieve his dream.

“It (being a lawyer) was always what I wanted to do, leaving school,” he said.

“I thought, if I go and join the police force and become a prosecutor, that would take about two years, and it would take two years off a law degree.”

In Victoria, police prosecutors handle most cases that come before the state’s Magistrates Courts.

While some cases are prosecuted by the Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP), Victoria Police’s prosecution unit manages more than 300,000 cases a year.

Mr Loftgood spent almost a decade prosecuting, first in Melbourne and then in Geelong – having found himself “sidetracked”.

He had stints as a uniform member, but found there was very little crossover between prosecuting and on-the-ground policing.

As a prosecutor, Mr Loftgood said the biggest takeaway was the “massive volume” of cases.

“If you’re in a mention court one day, you could be dealing with 50, 60 matters; then you might have one day where you’re dealing with the odd contested hearing,” he said.

However, amid the volume there were a few cases that stood out.

“When I was at Melbourne, I was doing a kids court prosecution for a young person who seriously assaulted a police officer,” he said.

“Being more involved with him and seeing the impact it had, that stands out in my memory.”

As a prosecutor, there could be a degree of separation from the victims.

“Unless it’s booked in for a hearing you’d barely ever meet the people who are impacted by the crime, and if you do it’s like turn around and see them in court and wave,” he said.

“You just write the outcome on the front of the page and throw it in the tray.”

In 2019, Mr Loftgood joined the prosecution division’s specialist research and training unit (RTU) in Melbourne, where he was now imparting his skills on the next generation of prosecuting officers.

The unit also reviewed more advanced prosecutions, Mr Loftgood said.

“If prosecutors want to appeal a sentence, if it was manifestly inadequate, it goes to RTU for their consideration, and then they approve whether it goes to the OPP or not,” he explained.

During his time with the RTU, Mr Loftgood was promoted to sergeant, but it was only when he and his partner had a child in 2021 that his mind turned back to his dream of becoming a lawyer.

“I was the primary parent and so I was off work, I had a bit of extra spare time … so I enrolled in uni full-time and smashed out my law degree,” he said.

At the time, he was living in Geelong and working in Melbourne but after being told to return to the office full-time, he knew it was time to pull the pin.

At first, the ex-officer was concerned that if clients found out he was an ex-police they could be apprehensive.

“I was a bit cautious and I was contemplating keeping it secret,” he said.

However, after being convinced to fess up, he’s found it to be an advantage.

“Everyone said ‘oh that’s awesome, you know how they work … the inside strategies and tactics’,” he said.

Another element of the switch was finding himself up against familiar faces.

“When I first left, there were (prosecutors) at court who were like, ‘you were assessing me six months ago’ (or) ‘I was just listening to your bail lecture the other day’,” Mr Loftgood said.

Prosecuting taught the lawyer a lot about the legal field.

“One of the quotes that sticks out to me from prosecuting … ‘as a prosecutor you enjoy no victories and suffer no defeats’,” Mr Loftgood said.

“It’s not the prosecutor’s job to win and the prosecutor shouldn’t also lose; the job is to get the evidence out, to give the court the clearest understanding of what has happened.”

“Whether the accused person is convicted or found not guilty, you know, it’s not a reflection of (the prosecutor).”

One of the most satisfying things since striking out on his own is the connections he forms with his clients.

“I might come in to court and have one to five matters a day these days, but most of the clients I know quite well,” he said.

“I’m connected to these people … I’m invested in their lives.

“There’s a real sense of satisfaction in getting what you feel is the right outcome for them.”