Dad speaks of abandoned son

2nd January 2009

By JULIAN LUKE

THE father of a little boy who was abandoned on New Year's Eve in Warwick has lashed out at Queensland Health, saying the family had appealed to mental health services to examine the mother days before she left her son.

The dad who asked not to be named said she had been acting irrationally as she had not taken her medication for some time and was stressed about Christmas and caring for a young child.

The Daily News understands concerned relatives of the 32-year- old woman, who has suffered from Bipolar disorder for more than a decade, had been in constant contact with mental health workers in Warwick and Toowoomba in the days leading up to New Year's Eve.

A home visit is believed to have been carried out by junior staff last weekend with the mother being given a clean bill of health, only to then begin to engage in increasingly bizarre behaviour.

It is also believed major concerns had been held by family members about the potential for the mother to physically harm herself and the baby and a lack of response by mental health services.

"When she is medicated she is nice and caring but un-medicated she is a different person," the baby's father said.

"If it wasn't for the police who knows what would have happened.

"I think in the last two days things spiralled well out of control with her. She hasn't done anything like this in the last three years."

The baby is now in his father's care.

The father's family have appealed to the public to return two travel bags the mother apparently had with her to the Warwick Police station, as they believe many of the baby's clothes are in them.

Warwick Police Senior Sergeant Mike Curtin said the mother was taken into custody three hours after the little boy was found.

As reported in the Daily News yesterday, a Hamilton Street resident spotted the baby being abandoned at 8.30pm and called police.

Snr Sgt Curtin said the child was abandoned in Hamilton Street and the mother was picked up in nearby Percy Street.

"She is receiving the appropriate support from authorities in Warwick and Toowoomba," he said.

Warwick Police have not laid any charges but investigations are continuing.

Queensland Health Darling Downs Acting District chief executive officer Dr Peter Bristow told the Daily News he could not comment on the details of patients.