'My 10-year-old daughter was killed by a teen. I want everyone to know her story.'

10-year-old Bridgette 'Biddy' Porter wanted to be a journalist when she grew up. While other kids her age might have had posters of popstars or Disney channel prodigies, Biddy had pictures of famous Australian journalists. 

"She was really an incredible writer," her mum Rebekah tells Mamamia, "she was funny, and caring, and loved playing tricks on her family. The youngest of three and our only girl, she was probably a bit spoiled, she slept in our bed until she was nine years old."

Image: Supplied.

It's an indulgence Biddy's parents are no doubt grateful to have granted her now, however, as on July 8, 2020, their little girl was killed in rural NSW by a teen known to her. 

"I was on my way to work, and I'd stopped at the post office," Rebekah recalls, "and I got a phone call from my ex-husband's father, just saying 'what's happened to Bridgette, what's happened to Bridgette?' I thought he must have meant that she hadn't visited him in a while, because we were going through divorce, but something in his voice made me worry. I then got a phone call from my ex-husband Dominic, telling me "Bridgette's dead. It all gets a bit fuzzy after that."

For the following six weeks, Rebekah went into nervous shock. 

"It's quite amazing what your brain does to protect you in traumatic situations," she says.

"I couldn't feed myself, couldn't dress myself - it was like my body just shut down so it wouldn't have to deal with the reality of the situation."

And that situation was as nightmarish as it gets.

Bridgette's injuries were so heinous that the Supreme Court ruled that the details of her killing would be suppressed for the next 20 years. That her killer was also a child - and one known to Bridgette - was a further, unimaginable horror. 

While Bridgette's killer was arrested just a few hours after her death, in 2021 they were found guilty of murder but not criminally responsible.

Biddy's killer is currently being treated in a mental health facility, but for legal reasons cannot be identified. Upon finding out that the killer had been allowed out into the community on day release from the facility and could be released permanently into the community at any point in time, Rebekah says she realised that because of this, Biddy's side of the story was also being suppressed.

Image: Supplied.

In NSW, the law currently ensures that the name of a child murder victim cannot be published or broadcast without the consent of their senior next of kin. Rebekah says that while she understands the need to protect the identity of children and those with mental health issues, this rule also feels as though it erases the story of the true victim.

"It was only after I found out that the killer was getting day release, that everything crystallised for me," says Rebekah.

"I was so angry. I had a bit of clarity about the whole situation, where I thought, hang on a minute. My daughter's been killed. Her name's been suppressed. Her injuries have been suppressed. This person is out here getting day release, and this is not what was promised to me. This is not the narrative that I was fed of how things would play out." 

Alongside Advocacy Australia, the Porters have launched the #Justice4BiddyPorter campaign - which is calling on the NSW Government to initiate Parliamentary Inquiries into the Director of Public Prosecutions and Mental Health Review Tribunal, reform Victims' Support Services, and to conduct a coronial inquest into Bridgette Porter's death to ensure justice, transparency, accountability, and fairness for victims of serious crimes.

Image: Supplied.

"With the Mental Health Review Tribunal, there is a hearing every six months, which means that every six months, families of victims are re-traumatised," says Advocacy Australia's Alice Collins. 

Rebekah believes the way the case was handled requires further investigation, and that more support needs to be in place for victims of crime in this country. 

"I believe there were many signs before the tragedy that the person who killed Biddy was deeply disturbed," says Rebekah. 

"They were collecting knives, naming them, writing diary entries that all spelled out this lust and desire to kill, how great it was going to feel to kill someone, how big the 'kill count' was going to be."

"In the aftermath of Biddy's death, her father and I were able to access a total of $7500 worth of funding for support services that, realistically, weren't available in our regional area," says Rebekah.

Image: Supplied.

"I'm unable to go back to work due to PTSD - I have tried a number of times, but I ended up having a breakdown. If Biddy had survived the attack, we would have been entitled to an additional $20,000 for loss of income, but there seems to be this assumption that after a month or two, we should simply be able to cope and get on with our lives. I will carry this sorrow in my heart for my little girl for the rest of my life."

A petition, sponsored by NSW Legislative Assembly member for Orange, Phillip Denato, has nearly reached the requisite number of signatures to be presented in Parliament. 

If you are a NSW resident and wish to sign the petition, you can do it here.

If you are not a NSW resident but would like to add your support, you can do so here. 

Biddy's mum recalls a time when her daughter was only in kindergarten, and noticed an older kid being bullied. Without hesitating, the tiny Biddy got right in between the bully and their target and told them to back off. 

"She was always trying to be a voice for those who couldn't use theirs," says Rebekah proudly. 

"I feel like now, we need to be a voice for Biddy, and in turn, her story can help countless others who have been failed by the system."

PETITION LINKS:

For more information: www.justice4biddyporter.com

Feature Image: Supplied.