Heartbroken mother of 12-year-old girl Charlotte O’Brien reveals her horror at discovering her daughter hid in the toilets at school to escape her bullies – as she shares a message for her daughter’s tormentors

A distraught mother whose daughter was ‘bullied to death’ has expressed her horror after discovering her little girl hiding in the school toilets to escape her tormentors.

Kelly O’Brien’s 12-year-old daughter, Charlotte, took her own life on September 9 after being terribly bullied at school.

Charlotte was mercilessly bullied by classmates at Santa Sabina College in Strathfield, Western Sydney, where she was in Year 7.

Mrs O’Brien has said she feels ‘so heartbroken’ that her daughter has not been expelled from school.

She also revealed that her 11-year-old niece knew about the bullying and immediately blamed “the bullies” for her cousin’s death.

“Bonnie, her best friend and cousin, didn’t want to tell me because she didn’t want to hurt my feelings, the poor little girl,” Ms O’Brien told the Daily Telegraph.

“When they heard that Charlotte had committed suicide, my family told me that Bonnie ran outside screaming, ‘It was the bullies, it was the bullies, it was the bullies.’

“And I heard from my sister that Bonnie said she hid in the bathroom or the library to escape.”

Charlotte (pictured) was mercilessly bullied by classmates at Santa Sabina College in Strathfield, Western Sydney, where she was in Grade 7

Ms O’Brien said afterwards that if she had known about the bullying in advance, she would have ‘would have taken her out [of school] immediately’.

But she and her husband, Mat Howard, don’t blame any of the children involved in the bullying for their daughter’s death.

‘We have to make that clear. “I don’t blame the kids at all because we can’t put pressure on them,” she said.

‘But once adults are aware, they have to stand up. They have to be the leaders, they have to do better.’

Educators also need more training on how to prevent bullying “because Charlotte never grows up,” her mother said.

Mrs O’Brien revealed her daughter ran to her car with tears ‘streaming’ down her face and begging for a ‘stand up’.

‘Mom, mom, they’re all bystanders. I just need someone who will stand up,” Charlotte said, according to her mother.

Charlotte’s death was “senseless and completely avoidable,” both parents agreed.

On the night of her death, a friend of Charlotte’s had told her parents that she was sad and angry about the latest cyberbullying she had experienced.

Mr Howard did not reveal exactly what they were told, but said it contained ‘some of the worst words anyone should have to read, let alone a twelve-year-old girl’.

Charlotte’s parents don’t blame any of the children involved in the bullying for their daughter’s death, but want adults to take more responsibility

Cyberbullying has increased dramatically since the introduction of smartphones and new data has confirmed just how steep the increase has been.

Before the first iPhone was introduced, Australia recorded 55 young people committing suicide in 2006.

However, in recent generations these numbers have almost doubled.

In 2020, there were 100 cases of children committing suicide and reports of self-harm are also increasing.

By some estimates, for every child who commits suicide, there are as many as 200 others who attempt it.

Ms O’Brien said this issue needs to be taken more seriously by adults who can ‘step in and be adults’.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Santa Sabina College for comment.