Neighbours report north Brisbane mum’s violent assault on child

An 11-year-old was bleeding from the face when he turned up at his neighbour’s home seeking shelter, prompting them to report his mother’s shocking assault.

A single mother from Brisbane’s north pleaded guilty to assaulting a child at the Pine Rivers Magistrates Court on Thursday after neighbours took photos of her son’s bleeding face.

The court heard the 33-year-old mum, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was called to pick up her 11-year-old son from school on November 19, due to disruptive behaviour in class.

According to police prosecutor sergeant Graham Turner, the woman left her shift at a telecommunications company to collect her son and became “increasingly angry” on the drive home.

The north Brisbane mum pleaded guilty to assaulting her child.

While still behind the wheel, the woman grabbed her handbag and violently swung it into the boy’s face, smashing it into his nose and causing bleeding.

When the car stopped, the boy ran away to find safety at a neighbour’s house.

The neighbour took photos of the boy’s injuries and reported the incident to police.

That evening, the boy stayed with relatives.

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Defence lawyer Andrew Ferrett of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service told the court the woman, who had no previous criminal history, had only recently come out of “high level domestic violence relationship” in which she was exposed to substance abuse.

Through her dealings with police, she has since engaged with family counselling.

Magistrate Trevor Morgan told the mother he appreciated that children could be “exasperating” but warned her to keep her emotions controlled at all times.

She was sentenced to a $750 good behaviour bond for 12 months.

No conviction was recorded.