Grieving mum's brutal final parting shot at the school she blames for the suicide of her son
Shattered mum Clare McCann paraded her son's coffin past the school where she claims he was bullied to death, in a final defiant act during his funeral cortege.
McCann's son Atreyu died by suicide at his home in April aged just 13.
But before his heartbreaking funeral on Monday, she instructed the hearse driver to slowly take his coffin past South Sydney High School.
A pipe and drum escort joined the procession as it slowly made its way around the Maroubra campus, before heading to Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Waverley, in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
'They will not get away with all they have done. They have to face justice!' Clare said in a searing Facebook post early yesterday morning.
McCann - a journalist and actress best known for starring in Channel V's Blog Party -said the bullying began in Atreyu's first week at the school in February and continued relentlessly until he died.
She alleges Atreyu was held underwater 'in a violent incident during a mud run' during a Year 7 camp from February 7 to 9, but no report was made to her.
She says Atreyu endured sexual harassment, threats and abuse throughout the camp and was not offered psychological support.
She also claims her son was subjected to a racial slur during sport, and verbal taunts about his size and appearance, which relate to a congenital condition.
According to Ms McCann, the school was informed in March that other students had crafted a weapon to coerce Atreyu into self harm, but no action was taken.
He missed multiple days of class, and was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.
He ultimately took his own life at home after sending a last message expressing love and an apology. The message included a red heart emoji.
The distraught mum, who kissed photos of her son and hugged his coffin at the funeral, added: 'I begged for help.
'I submitted complaints. I shared medical records. No one listened.'
She believes the school 'silenced' a year seven student's apology to her son.
The student's online post stated, 'What I did was very wrong, bullying is not a joke. I realise that now. My deepest apologies'.
But that post was later deleted, with McCann believing 'teachers made' the student take it down.
The Education Department said the school denies telling the student to delete the post.
But Atreyu's mum furiously responded on social media, saying, 'The school are trying to cover up their inaction by coercing a 12-year-old-child!
'Now they are trying to deny it, but we have the evidence.'
On the day of Atreyu's funeral, McCann said: 'First they ignore and act in neglect, failing their duty of care. Then they try to cover it up. Now they lie.
'The Premier has stepped in. We will have justice for Atreyu'.
NSW Premier Chris Minns this week promised to assist McCann in her search for answers.
He said the government would 'do anything we can do to ease the family's pain in coming months and years'.
Like his mother, Atreyu had artistic aspirations.
In his short acting career, he won two drama awards and played roles in US documentary series Deadly Women, as well as a 2019 movie written, directed by and starring his mother called Benefited.
After Atreyu died, Clare attempted to raise $300,000 through a Gofundme appeal to have him cryogenically frozen.
'We only have one chance left to cryogenically preserve his body within the next seven days,' she wrote in May.
But she was unsuccessful in her bid to raise the cash needed.
At Monday's funeral, friends and family wiped away tears as McCann approached the pulpit, breathing heavily, before sharing stories of her lost 'best friend'.
She added: 'You were the most intelligent, funniest and talented person I've ever known.'
Help is available 24/7.
Lifeline: call 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14.
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
42 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Grim update on underworld figure's bodyguard following broad daylight shooting in busy Sydney kebab shop
One of the victims of a brazen shooting in a kebab shop may 'never walk again'. Two masked and hooded gunmen, dressed head to toe in black, sprinted into M Brothers in Auburn, in Sydney 's west, just after 1pm on Monday. Samimjan Azari, 26, was hit in the arm and shoulder, 25-year-old Kali Taiseni was shot in the face and an innocent female shop employee, Yurdagul Aydogu, suffered two gunshot wounds to the torso. Mr Taiseni, an aspiring footballer, was travelling with Azari when the shooting unfolded. While he was hit in the face with a bullet, it has been revealed that shrapnel travelled through to his head to spine. His loved ones were told he may never walk again, reported The Daily Telegraph. Ms Aydogu, 47, remains in a medically induced coma but is expected to make a full recovery. She underwent two round of surgery to remove the bullets from her body. Azari also remains hospitalised for his arm and shoulder injuries. The would-be assassins on Monday unleashed a volley of eight handgun shots as their victims tried to flee out the back, while another man attempted to fend them off with a chair. Police believe Azari was the target of the attack due to his underworld links. Azari has survived three prior attempts on his life - including being shot while he was riding in the back of a ute at Brighton Le Sands - and he was allegedly behind a heist at Condell Park in January. In that incident, he allegedly sent two men to steal illegal tobacco valued at roughly $4.5million from a black market syndicate, but it turned into a violent kidnapping. Three men were allegedly threatened with weapons, tied up, bashed and one of the men had his toe 'partially severed' in the attack which lasted up to half an hour. Officers are believed to have seized the cigarettes, Nine News reported. Police believe this incident is why Azari is wanted dead and Detective Superintendent Jason Box believed he also escaped a planned attack last Friday. 'On this occasion, witnesses sighted a white ute with several occupants with their faces covered, and one occupant was believed to be holding a firearm,' he said. Azari and his associates reportedly provided 'limited information'. CCTV showed the aftermath of the kebab shop shooting, with NSW Ambulance paramedics treating the injured at the scene. Diner owner Mohammed Rahimi revealed on Tuesday how he fought to save the life of staff cook Gul Yildiz, 47, as she lay bleeding from her wounds. 'There was a lot of blood,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'I was basically putting pressure [on them].' He said he did not recognise the men who were shot in the hit, saying he sees a lot of customers each day. But he said the gunmen knew their targets and told staff to get on the ground. 'After second gunshot, the power cut off, so the shop was dark,' he added. 'One of the staff, as soon as she hear a gunshot, she fell down. She was there behind the counter with another staff, and basically [the gunman] told [us] to get down. The innocent victim caught in the crossfire is known in the community as a 'very good lady', locals told Daily Mail Australia. She is currently in a coma at Westmead Hospital with her daughter by her side and is believed to be in a stable condition. 'It is beyond comprehension that three people were shot in a crowded Sydney street in broad daylight, and the resources of the NSW police have already been deployed,' Acting NSW Police Commissioner Peter Thurtell said. Police recently warned that Azari was at the 'epicentre' of gangland tensions in the city. During a press conference on Monday, police minister Yasmin Catley said the gunmen will be held accountable as she shared her anger at an innocent woman getting shot. 'All she did was go to work and she has been caught up in this shocking event,' she said. 'It's one thing for criminals to be shooting each other but when innocent people get caught up in this, it is absolutely abhorrent and we will not tolerate it. 'It's completely unacceptable that this sort of behaviour should happen in Sydney.' 'We will do everything we can to bring these gunmen to justice. It's as simple as that. We will make sure that we go and go until we bring these people to justice.' Witnesses said two men with their faces covered entered the South Parade kebab shop and fired eight bullets. At the time of the shooting, the area was bustling with people on their lunch break and heading to the nearby Auburn train station.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
German police arrest man suspected of online child abuse after FBI tip-off
BERLIN, June 18 (Reuters) - A 20-year-old man accused of abusing children with mental health problems on the internet and driving one of them to suicide has been arrested in Germany after a tip-off from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, officials said on Wednesday. The police chief in the north German city of Hamburg, Falk Schnabel, told a press conference that the more than 120 criminal acts the man was accused of committing laid bare "the unbelievable abyss of sexual abuse that is almost unbearable". The man is accused of being a leading member of an online exploitation group dubbed 764 that targets vulnerable people, including children, with tactics designed to induce self-harm, police said in a separate statement. Hamburg authorities launched an investigation against him after the tip-off from the FBI, which was investigating a teen suicide. The unnamed suspect is accused of forcing children and teenagers to perform sexual acts on themselves in front of a camera and to injure themselves by carving symbols and letters into their skin with knives, according to the police statement. He later used that footage to blackmail his victims to injure themselves even more severely, which resulted in a 13-year-old boy taking his own life, the police statement said.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Explosive defence argument revealed about why Erin Patterson got sick before any of her lunch guests - as the prosecution case is picked apart
Erin Patterson 's early onset of illness after serving deadly beef Wellingtons to her lunch guests was brought on by her preparation of the meal, a jury has heard. On Wednesday, Patterson's barrister Colin Mandy, SC continued to outline his client's defence against claims she deliberately served poisoned pastry meals to the relatives of her estranged husband Simon Patterson. Patterson, 50, has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson. They died after consuming death cap mushrooms served in beef Wellingtons during lunch at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023. Only Pastor Ian Wilkinson survived the lunch, in what Crown prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers, SC on Monday suggested had been a big mistake. The jury has previously heard Ms Patterson claimed to have become ill shortly after the fateful lunch while her guests became sick much later, around midnight. 'There's a sensible reason for that, because in the morning, several hours before the guests arrived, she was stirring and tasting the duxelle,' Mr Mandy told the jury. 'She was preparing that part of the meal. She was tasting it and that's why she added the dried mushrooms to it. So at least a few hours before anyone else ate any, she had had some.' The jury has heard prosecutors claim that Patterson was never sick from what she ate at the lunch and had simply pretended to be, so as to cover-up her alleged crime. Dr Rogers told the jury medical tests revealed Patterson had no signs of death cap poisoning, unlike her guests who suffered severe symptoms, including organ failure. She argued that Patterson fabricated symptoms, such as vomiting after eating cake, to appear sick like her guests. 'We suggest that if the accused had truly vomited ... that is a detail she would have shared with medical staff,' Dr Rogers said. 'The fact that she never made any mention of it should cause you to seriously doubt this claim and we suggest, reject ... [this claim] as a lie.' Mr Mandy said Patterson's claim that she vomited after the lunch ought be treated as truthful. The court heard Patterson claimed she had vomited shortly after the lunch ended, around 2.45pm. 'Now if that was a lie, members of the jury, to encourage you to think that the poison had all left her body, she surely would've said to you that it happened as soon as the guests left,' Mr Mandy said. Mr Mandy also suggested Patterson's evidence that she couldn't remember what was in her vomit ought also be treated as the truth. 'She can't be more precise about the contents of her stomach. If she was lying, if she was lying to you, she would say, ''oh look, when I threw up, I could clearly recognise pastry and meat and mushrooms in there. Absolutely categorically it all came up'',' Mr Mandy said. 'If she was lying, that's what she'd say. But instead she says, 'I don't know, it's vomit'. If she was lying, she would've said, ''I threw up immediately and I could clearly see everything''. She didn't say that to you.' Mr Mandy further suggested Patterson did not become as sick as her lunch guests due to a number of significant factors. He said expert evidence suggested people who consumed the same amount of toxin could react in different ways. 'People can eat the same meal, some develop a higher grade, some develop a lower grade of the severity of the illness,' Mr Mandy said. He told the jury there could have been a variation in toxicity from one person's portion to another. And some people have different reactions upon consuming toxins, he said. 'So some people have a better toxic response than others. Yes. So depending on an individual's tolerance to that particular toxin or their physiological response that may be different,' Mr Mandy said. Expert evidence further suggested the age of the individual could also play a factor as could the weight of the person. 'Obviously weight is a factor,' Mr Mandy said. 'As you know, Erin weighed over a hundred kilos. Age is a factor. She's significantly younger than the other guests.' Mr Mandy accused the prosecution of providing 'misleading impressions' to jurors during Dr Rogers' closing address. 'So Dr Rogers yesterday in her closing argument, invited you to think about what you would do in this situation if this was really just a horrible accident,' he said. 'And what the Crown was asking you to do is to engage in an exercise which might be dangerous and seductive, but it's not appropriate because it involves hindsight reasons. 'And hindsight reasoning is dangerous because it distorts how we evaluate decisions and actions that occurred in the past.' Mr Mandy further accused lone lunch guest survivor Ian Wilkinson of providing the jury incorrect evidence when he described Patterson eating her meal off a different coloured plate. 'It has to be the case that Ian Wilkinson is wrong about what he said. It makes no sense logically that you would use that method to deliver up an unpoisoned parcel, but otherwise, on all of the evidence, he's wrong; honestly mistaken,' Mr Mandy said. He also said Mr Wilkinson was wrong about the colour of Patterson's other plates, which he had described as being grey. 'Erin and Simon were far more familiar with the crockery in the house than Ian was, and so we submit to you that you would have to find, on a proper and analytical examination of that evidence, that he wasn't right about those plates. Honestly mistaken,' Mr Mandy said. Mr Mandy also claimed it would have made more sense for Patterson to simply mark the 'safe Wellington' on the pastry rather than serve it on a different coloured plate. We submit to you there is only one logical way of getting around that problem if this was your plan, and that would be to mark the unpoisoned one, it's wrapped in pastry, in some way, so that you can recognise it and differentiate it from the others,' Mr Mandy said. 'Easy to do, pastry, in which case you would not need different coloured plates.' He urged the jury to consider why his client would have 'lured' her lunch guests to lunch with a tale about a false cancer diagnosis if they did not discuss the issue until after they had all eaten the Wellingtons. 'On the Crown case, her object had already been achieved,' he said. 'The only rational conclusion … is the lie about cancer has absolutely nothing to do with the intention to kill, if there was one.'
