A 14-year-old boy at the centre of a bullying scandal in Australia has revealed that he has been struggling after a video of the father of a bullied girl attacking him went viral.
The boy, who can't be named for legal reasons, has told of how he himself has been bullied and suffered nightmares after Mark Bladen, the father of a girl from Brisbane, confronted him and accused him of bullying his daughter.
The video footage was broadcast last week on Australia's Channel 9 show 60 Minutes and shows Bladen taking matters into his own hands after his daughter's treatment. It went viral very quickly after being posted online.
In a letter that was brought out by the boy's lawyer, he spoke of how distressing and upsetting the ordeal and the media attention that it has brought to him has been.
The boy wrote: "I have been extremely distressed by this whole saga and cry at night from the repeat nightmares I have of this man's face strangling me,"
"I don't know what is wrong with society as this was a blatant and unprovoked attack which has left me mentally scarred."
The boy claims that the problems started after his own mother was insulted online, he admits to calling Mark Bladen's step-daughter 'King Kong'.
He continued: "This girl started throwing horrid insults on Snapchat about my mum,
"She said things I do not want to repeat here as they are disgusting. She then continued to pester me with abuse."
"She knew I did self-harm and was having counselling for this,
"I retaliated by calling her King Kong, as she calls herself KK on Snapchat, hoping this would stop it."
60 Minutes offered the chance for the boy and his family to come onto the show, which focused on the bullying children face online, but the boy and his family declined.
He added: "I have been exceptionally distressed by all this horrid media and the way I have been portrayed,
"My parents have told me not to reply or respond as it will give away my identity to a mob who have based their story from a trial by media and this man has clearly seen it as an opportunity to behave as if he is some model parent.
"I am only 14 years old and my grades are suffering at school from this whole experience and I am trying to deal with living my life without this on the go. It is horrid."
For his role in the incident, Bladen was fined A$1,000 (£554) and wrote a letter of apology to the boy's parents.
He said: "I sincerely apologise for my actions towards your son. It is with deep regret and shame that I acted in that way"
Featured Image Credit: 60 MinutesTopics: News, brisbane, Bullying, Australia