Inquest into bullied suicide youth (The Daily Telegraph 20 Oct)

Kadina High’s teenage bullying victim Alex Wildman told to sit outside principal’s office if scared as attackers

By Larissa Cummings From:The Daily Telegraph October 20, 2009 2:36PM

Told to sit outside principal’s office if he felt scared … Alex Wildman, 14. killed himself after a series of violent run-ins with bullies at Kadina High School on the NSW North Coast. Source: The Daily Telegraph

IN THE days after teenage bullying victim Alex Wildman was assaulted by two students in the grounds of his north-coast high school, his attackers were allowed to freely roam the playground while he was told to sit outside the principal’s office if he felt scared.

Alex’s mother, Justine Kelly, told an inquest into her 14-year-old son’s death she wanted to involve the police, but was counselled against the idea by Kadina High School’s deputy principal, Bradd Farrell.

Ms Kelly then suggested a mediation session between herself and her husband, Bill Kelly, Alex, his assailants, their parents and the school, however this idea was also rejected, she said.

The acknowledgment from the school that staff had “mishandled things” came on the Monday after Alex ended his own life, the court heard.

Ms Kelly found her son’s body in the garage of their home in Goonellabah, near Lismore, in July last year.

She said he had endured years of being a target for bullies, including being pursued by a gang of about 50 youths while a student at Ingleburn High School in 2007.

After one run-in with the gang, in which a knife was pressed against his stomach, Ms Kelly said Alex asked to move back in after living with his father for just under two years.

But instead of a fresh start, Alex soon bore the brunt of more cruel jokes.

In his first week at Kadina High, he lent his phone to a girl and it went missing for some days during which nasty text messages were sent to the numbers of his old friends in Sydney, his mother told the court.

She said she had wanted to send Alex to another high school instead of Kadina High because her daughter had also been bullied at the school the year before, but this wasn’t possible due to zoning restrictions.

The inquest continues.

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