The father who violently choked his step daughter’s tormentor claims he is not a bully, as his wife says he ‘did what any parent would do’.
Mark Bladen, 53, said he was giving the boy a ‘good old fashioned talking to’ when the 15-year-old smiled at him, causing him to ‘snap’.
Mr Bladen was caught on camera lunging at the teenager and trying to choke him at a skate park in Brisbane, Queensland, before the boy’s friends ran to his aid.
‘I wanted to belittle him in front of his friends the same as he did [my daughter],’ he said on Sunday.
Mark Bladen, 53, said he was giving the boy a ‘good old fashioned talking to’ when he said the 15-year-old smiled at him, causing him to ‘snap’ and choke the boy
Speaking to 60 Minutes on Sunday night, Mr Bladen said he was ‘not proud’ of his actions but he got the ‘job done’, because his step daughter was no longer being bullied.
When asked what triggered the attack, the Brisbane step father said his daughter called him in tears.
‘She was crying, she was upset. She said he was at the skate park, and I said ‘that’s it, I’m going to talk to him’. I walked with purpose, had an aggressive demeanor,’ Mr Bladen said.
After he spoke to the boy, Mr Bladen said he was ‘very very close to leaving, but then he smiled at me’.
‘I snapped, and the next thing I knew my hands were around his neck,’ he said.
Mr Bladen said he was ‘not proud’ of his actions but he got the ‘job done’, because his step daughter was no longer bullied relentlessly
When asked what triggered the attack, the Brisbane step father said his daughter called him in tears claiming she had been tormented yet again by the bully
‘I snapped, and the next thing I knew my hands were around his neck,’ Mr Bladen said
When asked what was going through his mind after the brawl, Mr Bladen said ‘job done’.
While his daughter was no longer bullied, Mr Bladen said he wouldn’t do it again.
He said he regretted his actions.
‘If I could go back in time I wouldn’t have been in that situation to start with. It was a stupid thing to do, stupid.’
Mr Bladen walking with his wife and step daughter following the Brisbane attack
Mr Bladen warned other parents not to make the same mistake he did.
While the Queensland father regretted his actions, his wife defended him, saying: ‘he did what I think any parent would’.
‘His initial intention was to go down there and speak to him and I was okay with that. But looking back, what he did was not right,’ she said.
Mr Bladen’s daughter claimed the boy relentlessly bullied her about her physical appearance.
‘(He) called me names like gorilla and King Kong, he would buy me shaving cream for Christmas so that I would shave,’ she said.
While the Queensland father regretted his actions, his wife defended him, saying: ‘he did what I think any parent would’
‘(He) called me names like gorilla and King Kong, he would buy me shaving cream for Christmas so that I would shave,’ she said
Mr Bladen pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm in a Brisbane court on March 20.
He was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and $500 in compensation. No conviction was recorded.
His 15-year-old victim suffered bruising to the throat and scratches to his limbs in the fight.
The teenager told a court he was the victim of bullying himself and suffered nightmares following the attack.