{"id":82355,"date":"2026-08-28T12:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T12:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/82355\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T12:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T12:48:11","slug":"mum-allegedly-stabbed-defending-son-from-random-melbourne-cbd-attacker-breaks-silence-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/82355\/","title":{"rendered":"Mum allegedly stabbed defending son from random Melbourne CBD attacker breaks silence"},"content":{"rendered":"

A mother allegedly stabbed repeatedly while defending her son from a random attack in Melbourne\u2019s CBD has broken her silence about the ordeal.<\/p>\n

Speaking to 9News while recovering in hospital, Cherie Holt said her main concern was still for her 10-year-old son after he was allegedly set upon by Jerry Sowood, 27, on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Ms Holt and three sons, from Phillip Island, were in the Victorian capital to get a regular MRI scan for the 10-year-old, who is battling brain cancer.<\/p>\n

The boy was allegedly set upon by Mr Sowood as the family walked past the Victorian Police headquarters in Spencer St.<\/p>\n

Ms Holt was allegedly stabbed with scissors trying to fend off her son\u2019s attacker.<\/p>\n

\u201cA blow like that to any child\u2019s head could have devastating consequences,\u201d Ms Holt told 9News in a statement on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut knowing my son has an inoperable brain tumour made what had just happened even more terrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Holt yelled for her 16-year-old son to get the police as she intervened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stood between the man and my children because there was absolutely no way I was going to let him get to them again,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

Bystanders managed to subdue Mr Sowood, pinning him down as they tried to flag down emergency services.<\/p>\n

Mr Sowood, from Sunshine West, has been charged with affray, intentionally cause injury and unlawful assault, conduct endanger life and conduct endanger serious injury.<\/p>\n

He rejected offers for legal assistance during a court appearance on Wednesday \u2013 instead addressing the court directly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took a scissors and I stabbed a woman, I was in a mental state of mind,\u201d he told the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was three people, they kicked and punched me in the head.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least they\u2019re both still breathing so I keep my humanity, they might be a bit traumatised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Sowood declined to apply for bail and said he did not want to speak to a custody nurse as he was \u201creligious\u201d.<\/p>\n

Asked by the magistrate if he was on any medication or had any diagnosis, he responded: \u201cI was in mental state of mind, what I do\u201d. <\/p>\n

His microphone was muted after Mr Caltabiano expressed concern there was \u201cno need\u201d to comment on the allegations at this stage.<\/p>\n

Mr Sowood will return to court in November.<\/p>\n

\"Blake<\/a>Blake Antrobus<\/a>Night Chief of Staff, NewsWire<\/p>\n

Blake Antrobus is NewsWire’s Deputy Chief of Staff, based in Brisbane. He was previously the Queensland court reporter for NewsWire – covering some of the state’s most significant cases for more than five years. Blake has more than a decade of experience in the media industry, having covered everything from national news and politics to court, crime, education and lifestyle for a variety of news outlets across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A mother allegedly stabbed repeatedly while defending her son from a random attack in Melbourne\u2019s CBD has broken…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[131266,43720,83129,37886,36543,36519,53240,131265,65142,126005,48935,37450,124389,131269,126010,37726,37136,65202,131270,71594,125998,126007,1113,131278,131275,130418,46993,1109,131272,131274,131279,9715,124751,52118,131280,44921,37396,127357,39,9705,126003,131264,3430,260,126009,55847,125995,126006,130421,22672,55226,126008,50771,379,62770,40247,25868,67801,33355,131268,124393,131271,39193,127365,131267,124747,80705,38764,39856,36700,37172,49363,37640,52322,37121,40307,131276,131273,37443,131277,131281,103233,22441],"class_list":["post-82355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne","tag-s-attacker","tag-s-cbd","tag-s-head","tag-37886","tag-9news","tag-a-bit","tag-a-blow","tag-a-court-appearance","tag-a-custody-nurse","tag-a-mental-state","tag-a-mother","tag-a-random-attack","tag-a-random-attacker","tag-a-regular-mri-scan","tag-a-scissors","tag-a-statement","tag-a-woman","tag-affray","tag-an-inoperable-brain-tumour","tag-any-child","tag-any-diagnosis","tag-any-medication","tag-bail","tag-brain-cancer-the-boy","tag-cbd-horror","tag-cherie-holt","tag-concern","tag-court","tag-defending-son","tag-devastating-consequences","tag-emergency-services-mr","tag-friday","tag-her-10-year-old-son","tag-her-16-year-old-son","tag-her-main-concern","tag-her-silence","tag-her-son","tag-his-microphone","tag-hospital","tag-injury","tag-jerry-sowood","tag-legal-assistance","tag-life","tag-melbourne","tag-mental-state","tag-mind","tag-mr-caltabiano","tag-mr-sowood","tag-ms-holt","tag-mum","tag-my-children","tag-my-humanity","tag-my-son","tag-newswire-news","tag-no-need","tag-no-way","tag-november","tag-offers","tag-phillip-island","tag-random-cbd-attacker","tag-scissors","tag-serious-injury-he","tag-silence","tag-sowood","tag-spencer-st-ms-holt","tag-sunshine-west","tag-the-10-year-old","tag-the-allegations","tag-the-court","tag-the-family","tag-the-head","tag-the-magistrate","tag-the-man","tag-the-ordeal","tag-the-police","tag-the-victorian-capital","tag-the-victorian-police-headquarters","tag-this-stage-mr","tag-three-people","tag-three-sons","tag-tuesday-ms-holt","tag-unlawful-assault","tag-wednesday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}