The family of Alex Wildman, a 14-year-old boy who committed suicide after being bullied, has fled their Lismore home after being threatened by the same group of youths who drove the boy to death.
Showing no remorse or consideration for the grief of Alex’s family, the scoundrels have fostered a deliberate campaign of intimidation and psychological abuse against the family – continually driving past their home and making death threats.
Alex’s stepfather, Bill Kelly, has told the Daily Telegraph the hate campaign against his family had reached boiling point, and he was advised to flee town by police.
"I put my wife and the kids in the car for our safety and started driving towards Sydney. Carloads of these people, who were unknown to us, were driving past our home day and night, every hour or half hour. They threatened to burn, bash and kill," Mr Kelly said.
The family is now calling for a drastic change in attitude with respect to the way bullies are dealt with.
"We were terrorised out of town. I was the school bus driver, but neither of us is capable of working at the moment - trauma upon trauma has been heaped on us," Mrs Kelly said.
Alex committed suicide after a series of violent incidents with his Lismore schoolmates. Following the melees, he was “picked on” repeatedly, causing high levels of stress and trauma.
A new boy to the town, Alex and his family moved to Lismore at the beginning of the year, but the shift would prove to be a pathway to a mountain of trauma and grief.
Following the death of Alex, the family became mired in financial troubles due to Centerlink and housing payments, and have said they are unable to “properly grieve”.
Now, with the family turning their back on the town, they leave behind a situation where no charges have been laid against the group who were allegedly responsible for Alex’s suicide – and no road to closure in sight.