The mother of the inmate who poured boiling water over schoolboy Daniel Morcombe’s killer says her son is not a hero and he just wants to get on with his life.
As Adam Paul Davidson was released from a Queensland prison his mother said the former tattoo artist should never have been left in a position to attack Brett Cowan in jail.
‘He’s certainly no hero,’ Annette Fallbrown told Daily Mail Australia. ‘He doesn’t feel like a hero.
‘And he really just needs to be left alone for us to try to help him.’
Adam Paul Davidson was released from Woodford Correctional Centre on Wednesday
Child killer Brett Cowan suffered serious burns when Adam Davidson attacked him in prison
Social media reaction to Adam Davidson’s attack on Brett Cowan was overwhelmingly positive
Schoolboy Daniel Morcombe disappeared near his Sunshine Coast home in December 2003
However, Davidson’s torture of Cowan has met with overwhelming online support from Australians, some of whom say the parolee should never have to pay for a beer again.
‘He deserves a carton of the good stuff,’ one wrote. ‘Here is a true legend good on you brother you should never have to buy another beer,’ wrote another.
And there was this: ‘Adam, I hope you succeeded, live a good life sir, thank you’.
Davidson walked free from Woodford Correctional Centre, about 80 kilometres north of Brisbane, on Wednesday morning and rejoined his family that afternoon.
The 31-year-old was hailed by many as a hero for his prison attack on Cowan, the repeat child sex offender who abducted and murdered 13-year-old Daniel Morcombe on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in December 2003.
One woman even set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Davidson but his mother said that appeal was not welcome and had nothing to do with her family.
‘He doesn’t need funds,’ Ms Fallbrown said. ‘We don’t need money. And he really doesn’t need pats on the back for it either.’
Ms Fallbrown, who lives west of Brisbane, just wanted her son out of jail.
Former tattoo artist Adam Paul Davidson poured boiling water over child killer Brett Cowan
Adam Davidson, who poured boiling water over Brett Cowan, pictured several years ago
Social media reaction to Adam Davidson’s attack on Daniel Morcombe’s killer Brett Cowan
Adam Davidson’s mum Annette Fallbrown says her son is not a hero for attacking Brett Cowan
‘He’s been in lockdown for 12 months over what he did to Cowan,’ the 56-year-old said. ‘Just because of what he’s done to Cowan he’s been put on a dangerous offenders list.
‘He’s done it extremely tough. There’s a lot that the press don’t know and nobody knows. And it won’t be brought out.’
Ms Fallbrown said her son had serious mental health problems and had repeatedly harmed himself.
‘At the moment he just needs to get used to being out. He’s been in and out for 10 years.’
Davidson poured a bucket of boiling water over Cowan’s head inside Wolston Correctional Centre at Wacol, south-west of Brisbane, in August 2016.
Onetime tattoo artist Adam Davidson has had a terrible time in prison according to his mum
Social media users want to buy Adam Davidson a beer for attacking child killer Brett Cowan
Schoolboy Daniel Morcombe was abducted and murdered by Brett Cowan in December 2003
Many of the inmates at Wolston are sex offenders on protection or high-profile inmates. Davidson is not.
Ms Fallbrown said her son, who was serving a sentence for robbery and fraud, should not have been placed anywhere near Cowan or some of the then 46-year-old’s fellow paedophiles.
‘They should not have done it,’ she said. ‘He’s gone in there and ended up face to face with these people. They shouldn’t have had him in there.
‘Adam was telling me in phone calls up to six weeks before this happened he was having trouble with Cowan.’
Davidson was still a teenager when Daniel was killed and had lived and worked near where the youngster disappeared. Like many other inmates the father-of-four was sickened by Cowan’s crimes.
Adam Davidson has been released on parole after attacking Brett Cowan with boiling water
Father-of-four Adam Davidson suffers from serious mental problems, his parents have said
‘They’ve all got kids,’ Ms Fallbrown said.
‘It wasn’t premeditated. He was having trouble coping, keeping the blinkers on.’
As for the GoFundMe page organiser, Ms Fallbrown said her family did not need help like that.
‘I’ve had conversations with her and she just doesn’t get it,’ Ms Fallbrown said. ‘We don’t need money and he’s getting pats on the back for something that he shouldn’t be.’
Ms Fallbrown’s husband Mark agreed his stepson had done nothing heroic.
‘We believe that and he believes it too,’ Mr Fallbrown said.
‘From what I hear 80 per cent of people out there like what he’s done. But they’re not thinking about Adam.
Brett Peter Cowan was sentenced to life in jail for murdering schoolboy Daniel Morcombe, 13
Father-of-four Adam Davidson has been in and out of Queensland prisons for the past 10 years
‘And pouring hot water over someone is a terrible thing.’
Mr Fallbrown also believed his stepson should never have been in the same part of any prison as Cowan.
‘They should never have put Cowan back in there and they should never have put him near someone like Adam.’
The 57-year-old said his stepson had serious psychological problems and had complained about being near Cowan.
‘He was telling us “I can’t handle being around this guy” for six weeks and they let it happen,’ he said. ‘I believe they were aware of it.
‘Alarm bells should have gone off but obviously they didn’t do anything.
‘Adam’s got psychological issues. They both should be allowed to do their time without c*** like this.’
Adam Davidson pictured shortly after his release from Woodford prison on Wednesday
Schoolboy Daniel Morcombe disappeared from a Sunshine Coast bus stop in December 2003
Mr Fallbrown said he and Adam had regularly driven by the spot where Daniel was last seen. ‘I would have passed that spot on the day when Daniel disappeared,’ he said.
Cowan was arrested in August 2011, almost eight years after Daniel’s disappearance. Currently serving a life sentence for murder, he had two previous convictions for sexually assaulting children.
Davidson pleaded guilty last month to torturing Cowan and was sentenced to three years, but was released on Wednesday due to time already served.
Mr Fallbrown said his stepson had long been distressed by Cowan’s offences.
‘I think the biggest thing was the fact he was allowed to be around him,’ he said.
‘They should have said “we can’t have Adam around him” at the very least. If they didn’t want to move Cowan, move Adam.’
Adam Davidson has been paroled after his attack on Daniel Morcombe’s killer Brett Cowan
Adam Davidson pictured shortly after he was released on parole on Wednesday morning
Mrs Fallbrown said she and her husband, who had been together 26 years, did not welcome public attention but understood the interest in their son.
‘If he wasn’t our boy we’d be just as interested,’ Ms Fallbrown said. ‘But knowing the circumstances and knowing him it makes it a whole different ball game.’
Davidson’s circumstances in custody since attacking Cowan had only become worse.
‘He was allowed out an hour a day, which was still in restraints,’ Ms Fallbrown said.
Mr Fallbrown said Davidson’s natural father died three weeks ago. Psychiatrists have advised he be given time to adjust to life on the outside before he is reunited with his own children.
‘It is what it is and he’s done what he’s done and copped the sentence for doing it,’ Mr Fallbrown said.
‘And hopefully he can get his life back on track.
‘He’ll always be the one who did what he did to Daniel Morcombe’s killer.’
Adam Davidson was released from Woodford Correctional Centre on Wednesday morning