Someone alerted me to this story yesterday and I freaked out. Her version was 'a mum was confronted by a crazy man in a shopping centre parents room and she had no mobile reception. He was abusing her while her children were there, she didn't know him. He made threats to dismember her and other mothers just walked by as she cried for help and ignored her'.

This shocked me to the core. As a mum I find that other mums are always helping me, with shopping or the children a fellow mother just gives you a look of, I know what it's like, often they verbalise it 'Dahl, I've had four I know what it's like let me help you', other times it's just a knowing look. I said to her 'Well that wasn't Newcastle. Mothers help each other here' but I genuinely felt sick to my stomach and had to find out more.

So here's the 'reported' story, a mother of three panicked when a man allegedly began yelling abuse at her in the parents' room of a shopping centre. She said 'older man without children' walked into the parents' room at Westfield Hornsby in northern Sydney without any children and wandered around. She made enquiry as to what he was doing there before he allegedly 'launched into a tirade of abuse' and threatened to dismember her. She is reported to have screamed for help to other mothers that passed and it is alleged that they ignored her. She escaped finally and quickly took a picture of the man to show security and police. She added 'I was really disappointed in their response and care factor for violence towards women and children'.

What do you think could have prevented this? Should 'parent's rooms' be more secure? I'm sure you can relate to dismissive attitudes of security etc, I can imagine that, but fellow Mums not helping seems hard to believe. Maybe I just don't want to believe it.