Former abortion doctor James Peters at the Supreme Court yesterday. His victims also had some frank terms for the medical authorities who had "protected him." Peters didn't watch Charge 4, as she was known, gulp for air and wipe at her eyes as she described her obsessive need to get "him out of me" and to get "my blood scrubbed clean." He stared ahead when she said she couldn't run to her children when they were hurt - instead she ran for gloves. She had had suicidal thoughts: as the day wore on, it became clear many of his victims had thought about killing themselves, spent time in psychiatric wards, had depressive episodes and lost relationships and jobs. They had been "violated" at their most "vulnerable and voiceless." If shame and/or grief at the termination wasn't enough, the psychological side-effects of Hep C treatment drugs tipped them into a darkness they had not known. Victims 'failed' by staff and system Two victims read out their statements. More had planned to do the same but decided the ordeal would be too painful. The prosecution read out dozens of their statements. They repeated the same term - the "act of violence." Described the same puzzlement - what is Hep C and how did I get it? Fretted about the same fear of spreading it to loved ones. Several victims spoke of being rejected sexually by their partners. One woman felt haunted by a quick encounter with Peters before he put her under. "You're a healthy kid," he told her, just before he infected her. It was gruelling. Five or six of the Croydon Day Clinic nurses sobbed in the gallery. Their role in the mess is mixed up - they blame the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria for its monitoring. They were here for "closure." The victims and loved ones seemed more certain after Peters was told he would spend last night in jail. "He's going away," one woman said, beaming with what was the first smile seen in court all day.