Easter Show victim Uati Faletolu’s mum speaks of heartbreak as experts slam knife culture

A top criminal psychologist has exposed the true “elephant in the room” in the aftermath of the fatal Easter Show stabbing of a young father to be.

The mother of a teenage boy fatally stabbed at the Easter Show says she wakes up every morning in disbelief, as it’s revealed a mafia-style code of silence is enabling what one expert has called Sydney’s “disturbing” knife culture.

Janice Faletolu said the impact of her son Uati’s death more than two weeks ago had left her “heart broken” particularly off the back of the news the 17-year-old was to become a father with his girlfriend Taylor Piliae.

“My heart is overwhelmed with all the love received for my son Uati from near and far!” Ms Faletolu wrote in an emotional Facebook post.

“I wake up each morning in disbelief that my boy is really gone! My heart is broken, I feel nothing but hate but I know God’s got me and my family and I have to trust and keep the faith that He will guide us through difficult times.

“It’s crazy but not really surprising how much of an impact Uati has made in peoples lives … I am so blessed and thankful to have birthed you and that you were chosen to be my son.”

Uati "Pele" Faletolu was stabbed to death at the Royal Easter Show just weeks after finding out he and girlfriend Taylor Piliae (right) were due to become parents.

Uati’s death comes off the back of a tripling of weapons offences among kids in the Blacktown area where he grew up.

Police sources say a large reason for the rise in crime in the area has been the postcode wars that involve a variety of youth gangs from different suburbs, many of who carry knives as was seen at the Easter Show.

Top criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told The Daily Telegraph he believes Sydney is in the midst of a “disturbing” knife culture.

“I think a fair bit of it is about the media and role modelling, what they see on various movie platforms, it kind of legitimises and normalises violence,” Mr Watson-Munro said.

“Plus, it’s not even the elephant in the room anymore, it’s the availability of knives.

“We’ve got a very disturbing knife cult in Australia, back in the day they used to punch on – now they stab each other.

“I suspect some of them are just itching to use their weapons. If you go out with a knife, at some level there is an intention to use it if the circumstances arise.”

Dr Tim Watson-Munro, one of Australia's pre-eminent criminal psychologists, says Sydney has a growing “knife cult”. Photo: Tim Pascoe

From Blacktown to Bondi, young children are being recruited into the ranks of gangs like OneFour and RFA (Ready for Anything) representing Mt Druitt in 2770, and ‘67 from Doonside – the 2767 postcode which police say could be central to Faletolu’s death at the Easter Show.

Mr Watson-Munro said an added difficulty for police was the attitude of children to maintain the “code of silence” so prominent among adult gangs.

“An overarching issue is this code of silence, it’s not just the mafia, it’s young kids who don’t want to be seen as snitches because they’re ‘tough guys’,” he said.

“They want to be seen as tough and they don’t want to be ostracised by the group.

“I had a case recently of a female who was in a bit of trouble, not a lot of trouble … she had been witness to a very serious crime and the police were putting pressure on her to provide evidence.

“She claimed at High School friends of the accused were threatening her life and to kill her if she gave them evidence.”