The mother of a man who mercilessly shot 35 people dead at a cafe has shared the one regret she will have for the rest of her life.
Carleen Bryant spoke of the devastating burden she has carried ever since her 28-year-old son, Martin admitted opening fire during the deadly massacre at the tourist village of Port Arthur in Tasmania in 1996. In a new interview with 60 Minutes Australia which aired last week, Carleen tells how her son will never be free and worries that noone else will ever visit him after she dies.
She described the now 56-year-old as “overweight” due to medication and a lack of exercise, and revealed he was recently diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.
READ MORE: Agonising last moments of tragic teen who made fatal mistake and instantly knew
Get the latest news on the Daily Star homepage.
Carleen admitted that she and a lawyer had both convinced Martin to plead guilty after he confessed to the horrifying crimes to spare the victims’ families any further trauma.
(Image: AFP)
But in her recently published book, she now claims beyond belief that her son isn’t guilty and the evidence against him was never tested at a trial.
She said: “Martin always, when he was questioned…said he was never in Port Arthur at Broad Arrow.”
Asked by the interviwer: “And you believed him?” she answers: “Yes. There’s no evidence that Martin was there.”
The interviewer replies: “But none of that was needed because Martin said in court: ‘Yes I was there, I did it,’ and you went along with it.”
Carleen replies: “Exactly.”
(Image: Fairfax Media via Getty Images)
And when asked: “And now you wish you hadn’t?,” she says: “Of course, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.
“A lot of people on that day came forward after – people who knew Martin for years – and they said as far as they were concerned, they didn’t recognise the gunman as being Martin Bryant.”
With the prospect of upsetting a lot of people with her u-turn, she said: “There’s also a lot of people that realise that Martin didn’t have a trial and there was no evidence proven whether he was the gunman.”
Carleen said she asked Martin if he did it and that he “didn’t give me an answer.” Instead, he stopped her from visiting and has since never talked to her about the events of that day.
(Image: Fairfax Media via Getty Images)
“I felt at the time that because I’m Martin’s mother, I was being held accountable in some way for all these crimes,” she said.
Standing firm as a loyal mother, she adds: “I know there’ll be a lot of people out there that’ll be condemning me for even coming on this programme but I want to be able to help Martin.”
Carleen said as a child, Martin was “different.” He “couldn’t entertain himself,” would break his toys “out of frustration” and didn’t have any friends.
Australia’s leading psychiatrist, Paul Mullen was the first person to hear Bryant recount the massacre and described him as a “troubled, intellectually limited, sad, pathetic man who had done something unforgivable.”
In the aftermath of the harrowing incident which ranks among Australia’s deadliest rampages, 7News Spotlight shared the chilling moment Martin confessed to the killings in a clip taken inside the interrogation room.
(Image: 7 News Spotlight)
Looking relaxed, the cold-blooded killer told the officers: “I’m sure you will find the person that caused all this.”
He raises his eyebrows and points towards himself, whispering: “Me.”
The interrogator responds: “I don’t find that a very funny statement at all Martin, to be honest.”
With a big grin, he replies: “You should’ve put that on recording.”
The officer answers: “Oh it’s still recording at this present stage.”
(Image: Press Association)
Before the massacre on April 28, Bryant had had lunch at the Broad Arrow cafe. He suddenly opened fire with an AR-15 assault rifle in the kitchen and serving area, before moving towards the tables.
He then went out to the car park, continuing his rapid fire assault on anyone within range.
In November 1996, Bryant was handed 35 life sentences – 1,035 years in prison, without the possibility of parole.
He remains locked up at a small mental health unit in Tasmania’s Risdon Prison on the outskirts of Hobart.
Carleen’s interview was uploaded to YouTube earlier this week and has since attracted over 155,000 views.
(Image: 60Mins)
She said: “For many many years, I was in fear of walking out of my door in fear of who would recognise me.
“I was always looking over my shoulder to see if people would recognise me as being Martin’s mother. But since then, people have said: ‘You go out, you hold your head high, you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.'”
For the latest news stories from Daily Star sign up for our newsletter.