PAT McDermott hopes a book she has written about the death of her schoolteacher brother will help others to deal with the suicide of a loved one.
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In a case that received widespread publicity, Matthew McDermott, 28, took his life in 1996 after being accused by a group of female students of sexual misconduct during a game of touch football.
He strongly denied acting improperly in the game of Walla Rugby, which involves a two-handed touch below waist level.
Mr McDermott left his family home in Mortdale Heights, where his sister still lives, to teach at Temora High School in the NSW Riverina.
"Matthew was the object of a vendetta by a small group of adolescent girls that culminated in accusations of sexual misconduct," Ms McDermott writes in her book, Resurrection.
"He was a single male alone in a small town with no family to care for him.
"By any criteria, he was a suicide risk.
"In the aftermath of the Wood royal commission and community anger over paedophilia, both the Catholic Church and the state assumed guilt before innocence."
Ms McDermott, who still lives at Mortdale Heights, told the Leader she was still angry about her brother's death, particularly because he had not wanted to take part in the game, but had to, to "make up the numbers".
The school principal should have stopped the practice after an earlier complaint against another teacher, which was revealed only after Mr McDermott's death, she said.
Ms McDermott set out to write a record of the tragedy, using a huge amount of material gathered by their heartbroken mother, who died in 2010.
However, her research led her deeper into the subject of suicide, including aspects such as the vulnerability of men and the impact on families and friends.
Ms McDermott said she hoped her search for answers would help others grappling with the tragedy of suicide.
"I think I went to the rock bottom of my anger, but I kept on, and came out the other side as a different and, I think better, human being," she said.
Ms McDermott said finding a "positive" way to deal with Matthew's death meant forgiving those who had hurt him.
"I haven't got there yet," she admitted.
BOOK TELLS OF GANG
The book says Matthew fell victim to a ‘‘girl gang’’ of adolescents aged 12-14 who also played pranks on him, with one threatening she would ‘‘get him’’.
‘‘These gangs control membership in a way of sorting out membership, and participants dare each other to do collectively what they would not do as individuals,’’ Ms McDermott writes.
The book tells of earlier complaints by senior students that Mr McDermott had inappropriately touched them by leaning over them while looking at their work.
Mr McDermott, who was known as a ‘‘touchy’’ sort of person, was reprimanded by the principal and undertook to change his teaching style.
A coroner found these matters were ‘‘minor’’ and appeared to have been dealt with appropriately.
He said it was not his role to determine the truth of the accusations over the touch football game, but he was highly critical of the way the way authorities had suspended Mr McDermott without giving him a reason or offering him counselling.
Mr McDermott only learnt of the accusations from some senior students, who, along with some teachers, supported him.
Then-education minister John Aquilina had apologised over the way the case was handled.
The book says the case ‘‘completely divided the community of Temora and devastated his friends, his colleagues, some of his students, and those with whom he played and socialised’’.
Resurrection is published by Jane Curry Publishing.
Can you give any advice to people who are grieving over the suicide of a loved one?
Help is at hand for anyone experiencing anxiety or depression:
Lifeline crisis support 13 11 14 lifeline.org.au
Men’s Line Australia: 1300 78 99 78 or mensline.org.au
