NSW mum whose daughter was allegedly caught with knife at shopping centre speaks out

A mother has made an impassioned plea for better mental health resources for at-risk kids after her teenage daughter was found with a knife in a shopping centre.

A mother has sent out an impassioned plea for better mental health resources for at-risk kids after her teenage daughter was found with a knife in a shopping centre.

In scenes eerily similar to the Bondi attack, the mother said the last thing she wanted was to be the parent who wakes up to find not only her daughter “gone” but that “they’ve also taken someone else’s” life.

“That would absolutely break me,” she said.

“I’ve screamed for help and no one would … and it’s led to this outcome and you can’t come back from that.”

Her daughter was found wielding a knife at a Central Coast shopping centre on Monday with dozens of shoppers locked inside a nearby Kmart as a precaution.

No charges have been laid over the incident.

A young person allegedly armed with a knife in a Central Coast shopping centre on Monday lunchtime was taken to hospital for assessment. Picture: 7News

“That man (at Bondi) suffered severe schizophrenia and had gone off his medication, my daughter’s off her medication because she can’t be forced to take it,” the mum said.

“There is no doubt in my mind that one day it’s just going to escalate and I’m preparing myself for something like that.”

The daughter wasn’t in the care of her mother of three at the time.

After knowing of her daughter’s disappearance from Safe Places, it wasn’t until seeing the news a week later where she realised that was her child with the knife

“I even knew she was on TV before the DCJ (NSW Department of Communities and Justice),” she said.

“She has two carers on her 24/7 … she’s high risk, and prone to violent outbursts … and she’s autistic.”

The mother of a teenager caught with a knife at a Central Coast shopping centre has spoken out.

The mother told The Daily Telegraph her daughter somehow managed to shake them off and find a knife before she was caught.

And, she’s been calling for help for years, after multiple trips to the hospital, many assessments, stints in Juvenile detention – all the mother wanted was for her daughter to enter a children’s mental health facility.

“We got her to the doorsteps of Nexus … and I was super excited for that because [I felt] she’s going to get proper help and they said she doesn’t have an active suicide plan, she doesn’t need to be here,” she said.

“The mental health system for kids is shot to s--t … I was always just told when (she) has a meltdown just call an ambulance.”

The mother has become frustrated with the long wait lists involved with her daughter receiving the crucial psychiatric care her daughter needs, often being met with “wait list after wait list”.

“I actually want her kept in the juvenile centres,” she said.

“There is mental health help on call there, there are psychiatrists and education … she hasn’t even been to school [lately] … there’s a regular plan and routines in place.”

Despite her daughter’s struggles, she understands the need for people to “suffer the consequences” even if struggling with mental health problems.

However, she has pleaded for better support for vulnerable children, like her daughter, to avoid dangerous outcomes.