Latest news with #Chrysanthou
The Advertiser
14-05-2025
- Health
- The Advertiser
Psychiatrist breaks down after Bondi attack backflip
A former psychiatrist of the Bondi Junction shopping centre attacker has broken down in court after withdrawing her previous claim the violence was spurred on by sexual frustration. Joel Cauchi, 40, had armed himself with a knife when he fatally stabbed six shoppers at Sydney's Westfield Bondi Junction and injured 10 others in April 2024. The Queensland psychiatrist who treated Cauchi for eight years on Wednesday backtracked on evidence that Cauchi's motivation might have been due to "frustration, sexual frustration, pornography and hatred towards women". "It was a conjecture on my part and I should not have said what I said," she told the NSW Coroners Court. "And do you withdraw it?" asked barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC. representing the families of three of Cauchi's victims Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Dawn Singleton. "Yes," the doctor replied. Expert evidence provided to the inquest says Cauchi was "floridly psychotic" during the attack. The officer-in-charge of the police investigation also previously told the coroner that there was no suggestion he had targeted women during the stabbing spree. Diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen, Cauchi had been successfully treated since 2001. But when he shifted from the public to the private system in 2012, he formed a plan with the psychiatrist - who cannot be legally identified - to gradually decrease his dosage. By mid-2019, he was completely off the two antipsychotics he was taking. He became detached from the mental health system entirely in early 2020 after moving to Brisbane at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The psychiatrist on Wednesday apologised for "being short" with counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC during previous questioning. But she quickly became frustrated by Ms Chrysanthou's grilling, saying the barrister "did not have a degree in medicine" during a barrage of questions about blood tests and levels of antipsychotics. "I have to educate you," she said when asked whether an early warning sign of relapse was a sign of psychosis. "I don't want to be educated," Ms Chrysanthou replied. The pressure of one-and-a-half days of intense questioning, by different lawyers including her own, was apparent by Wednesday afternoon when the psychiatrist was seen in tears in the witness box, holding tissue-filled hands to her face. She earlier denied a connection between Cauchi being taken off antipsychotic drugs and months later developing an obsession with pornography and sex. She also dismissed his wanting to take HIV anti-viral drugs after a single visit to a brothel as a sign of paranoia. Excessive notes left around his house could have been because his obsession with sex and pornography left him in torment from the "religious alien or the Christian alien," she told the court. The doctor also defended her initial assessment of Cauchi in 2012 as having first-episode schizophrenia, despite him exhibiting symptoms in 2001, 2002 and 2008. The diagnosis was not passed on to Cauchi's general practitioner. Despite around 130 consultations with herself, mental health nurses and other psychiatrists from 2015 to 2020 at the clinic, Cauchi had not shown any signs of psychosis, she said. She testified that she never thought his insight was impaired enough to compel him to take antipsychotics. It was "very unfortunate" that neither Cauchi nor his family reconnected with the private clinic to organise further counselling sessions after March 2020, she told the court. The five-week inquest, probing Cauchi's mental health care as well as emergency services' responses to the attack, continues. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 A former psychiatrist of the Bondi Junction shopping centre attacker has broken down in court after withdrawing her previous claim the violence was spurred on by sexual frustration. Joel Cauchi, 40, had armed himself with a knife when he fatally stabbed six shoppers at Sydney's Westfield Bondi Junction and injured 10 others in April 2024. The Queensland psychiatrist who treated Cauchi for eight years on Wednesday backtracked on evidence that Cauchi's motivation might have been due to "frustration, sexual frustration, pornography and hatred towards women". "It was a conjecture on my part and I should not have said what I said," she told the NSW Coroners Court. "And do you withdraw it?" asked barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC. representing the families of three of Cauchi's victims Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Dawn Singleton. "Yes," the doctor replied. Expert evidence provided to the inquest says Cauchi was "floridly psychotic" during the attack. The officer-in-charge of the police investigation also previously told the coroner that there was no suggestion he had targeted women during the stabbing spree. Diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen, Cauchi had been successfully treated since 2001. But when he shifted from the public to the private system in 2012, he formed a plan with the psychiatrist - who cannot be legally identified - to gradually decrease his dosage. By mid-2019, he was completely off the two antipsychotics he was taking. He became detached from the mental health system entirely in early 2020 after moving to Brisbane at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The psychiatrist on Wednesday apologised for "being short" with counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC during previous questioning. But she quickly became frustrated by Ms Chrysanthou's grilling, saying the barrister "did not have a degree in medicine" during a barrage of questions about blood tests and levels of antipsychotics. "I have to educate you," she said when asked whether an early warning sign of relapse was a sign of psychosis. "I don't want to be educated," Ms Chrysanthou replied. The pressure of one-and-a-half days of intense questioning, by different lawyers including her own, was apparent by Wednesday afternoon when the psychiatrist was seen in tears in the witness box, holding tissue-filled hands to her face. She earlier denied a connection between Cauchi being taken off antipsychotic drugs and months later developing an obsession with pornography and sex. She also dismissed his wanting to take HIV anti-viral drugs after a single visit to a brothel as a sign of paranoia. Excessive notes left around his house could have been because his obsession with sex and pornography left him in torment from the "religious alien or the Christian alien," she told the court. The doctor also defended her initial assessment of Cauchi in 2012 as having first-episode schizophrenia, despite him exhibiting symptoms in 2001, 2002 and 2008. The diagnosis was not passed on to Cauchi's general practitioner. Despite around 130 consultations with herself, mental health nurses and other psychiatrists from 2015 to 2020 at the clinic, Cauchi had not shown any signs of psychosis, she said. She testified that she never thought his insight was impaired enough to compel him to take antipsychotics. It was "very unfortunate" that neither Cauchi nor his family reconnected with the private clinic to organise further counselling sessions after March 2020, she told the court. The five-week inquest, probing Cauchi's mental health care as well as emergency services' responses to the attack, continues. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 A former psychiatrist of the Bondi Junction shopping centre attacker has broken down in court after withdrawing her previous claim the violence was spurred on by sexual frustration. Joel Cauchi, 40, had armed himself with a knife when he fatally stabbed six shoppers at Sydney's Westfield Bondi Junction and injured 10 others in April 2024. The Queensland psychiatrist who treated Cauchi for eight years on Wednesday backtracked on evidence that Cauchi's motivation might have been due to "frustration, sexual frustration, pornography and hatred towards women". "It was a conjecture on my part and I should not have said what I said," she told the NSW Coroners Court. "And do you withdraw it?" asked barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC. representing the families of three of Cauchi's victims Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Dawn Singleton. "Yes," the doctor replied. Expert evidence provided to the inquest says Cauchi was "floridly psychotic" during the attack. The officer-in-charge of the police investigation also previously told the coroner that there was no suggestion he had targeted women during the stabbing spree. Diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen, Cauchi had been successfully treated since 2001. But when he shifted from the public to the private system in 2012, he formed a plan with the psychiatrist - who cannot be legally identified - to gradually decrease his dosage. By mid-2019, he was completely off the two antipsychotics he was taking. He became detached from the mental health system entirely in early 2020 after moving to Brisbane at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The psychiatrist on Wednesday apologised for "being short" with counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC during previous questioning. But she quickly became frustrated by Ms Chrysanthou's grilling, saying the barrister "did not have a degree in medicine" during a barrage of questions about blood tests and levels of antipsychotics. "I have to educate you," she said when asked whether an early warning sign of relapse was a sign of psychosis. "I don't want to be educated," Ms Chrysanthou replied. The pressure of one-and-a-half days of intense questioning, by different lawyers including her own, was apparent by Wednesday afternoon when the psychiatrist was seen in tears in the witness box, holding tissue-filled hands to her face. She earlier denied a connection between Cauchi being taken off antipsychotic drugs and months later developing an obsession with pornography and sex. She also dismissed his wanting to take HIV anti-viral drugs after a single visit to a brothel as a sign of paranoia. Excessive notes left around his house could have been because his obsession with sex and pornography left him in torment from the "religious alien or the Christian alien," she told the court. The doctor also defended her initial assessment of Cauchi in 2012 as having first-episode schizophrenia, despite him exhibiting symptoms in 2001, 2002 and 2008. The diagnosis was not passed on to Cauchi's general practitioner. Despite around 130 consultations with herself, mental health nurses and other psychiatrists from 2015 to 2020 at the clinic, Cauchi had not shown any signs of psychosis, she said. She testified that she never thought his insight was impaired enough to compel him to take antipsychotics. It was "very unfortunate" that neither Cauchi nor his family reconnected with the private clinic to organise further counselling sessions after March 2020, she told the court. The five-week inquest, probing Cauchi's mental health care as well as emergency services' responses to the attack, continues. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 A former psychiatrist of the Bondi Junction shopping centre attacker has broken down in court after withdrawing her previous claim the violence was spurred on by sexual frustration. Joel Cauchi, 40, had armed himself with a knife when he fatally stabbed six shoppers at Sydney's Westfield Bondi Junction and injured 10 others in April 2024. The Queensland psychiatrist who treated Cauchi for eight years on Wednesday backtracked on evidence that Cauchi's motivation might have been due to "frustration, sexual frustration, pornography and hatred towards women". "It was a conjecture on my part and I should not have said what I said," she told the NSW Coroners Court. "And do you withdraw it?" asked barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC. representing the families of three of Cauchi's victims Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Dawn Singleton. "Yes," the doctor replied. Expert evidence provided to the inquest says Cauchi was "floridly psychotic" during the attack. The officer-in-charge of the police investigation also previously told the coroner that there was no suggestion he had targeted women during the stabbing spree. Diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen, Cauchi had been successfully treated since 2001. But when he shifted from the public to the private system in 2012, he formed a plan with the psychiatrist - who cannot be legally identified - to gradually decrease his dosage. By mid-2019, he was completely off the two antipsychotics he was taking. He became detached from the mental health system entirely in early 2020 after moving to Brisbane at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The psychiatrist on Wednesday apologised for "being short" with counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC during previous questioning. But she quickly became frustrated by Ms Chrysanthou's grilling, saying the barrister "did not have a degree in medicine" during a barrage of questions about blood tests and levels of antipsychotics. "I have to educate you," she said when asked whether an early warning sign of relapse was a sign of psychosis. "I don't want to be educated," Ms Chrysanthou replied. The pressure of one-and-a-half days of intense questioning, by different lawyers including her own, was apparent by Wednesday afternoon when the psychiatrist was seen in tears in the witness box, holding tissue-filled hands to her face. She earlier denied a connection between Cauchi being taken off antipsychotic drugs and months later developing an obsession with pornography and sex. She also dismissed his wanting to take HIV anti-viral drugs after a single visit to a brothel as a sign of paranoia. Excessive notes left around his house could have been because his obsession with sex and pornography left him in torment from the "religious alien or the Christian alien," she told the court. The doctor also defended her initial assessment of Cauchi in 2012 as having first-episode schizophrenia, despite him exhibiting symptoms in 2001, 2002 and 2008. The diagnosis was not passed on to Cauchi's general practitioner. Despite around 130 consultations with herself, mental health nurses and other psychiatrists from 2015 to 2020 at the clinic, Cauchi had not shown any signs of psychosis, she said. She testified that she never thought his insight was impaired enough to compel him to take antipsychotics. It was "very unfortunate" that neither Cauchi nor his family reconnected with the private clinic to organise further counselling sessions after March 2020, she told the court. The five-week inquest, probing Cauchi's mental health care as well as emergency services' responses to the attack, continues. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636
The Age
14-05-2025
- Health
- The Age
Bondi attacker's psychiatrist backflips over ‘woman hater' claim
'I don't have evidence, it was conjecture on my part and I shouldn't have said that,' Dr A said. 'I shouldn't have speculated all the years later after I completed his treatment.' Within months of ceasing his antipsychotics in 2019, Cauchi's mother Michele began raising the alarm with Dr A's clinic about her son's strange behaviour. She made seven attempts to raise concerns, according to clinical notes. The inquest has heard Cauchi was scrawling countless messages about 'Satanic control', obsessed with pornography and showering compulsively. His mother felt he was hearing voices, but Dr A has consistently denied they were warning signs of psychosis. 'Is hearing voices a sign of psychosis?' Chrysanthou asked. 'Yes, if it was evidenced, but there was no evidence … She didn't even live with him, it's just an opinion of the mother,' Dr A said. Cauchi was ultimately discharged from the private clinic in 2020 at the same time he moved to Brisbane. Dr A had one final telehealth session with Cauchi, but it was cancelled because he had tech issues with Skype and Medicare would not cover the session. 'The government removed the rebate from the telehealth appointment. I'm a private psychiatrist,' Dr A told the court. The psychiatrist said she desperately wanted to keep Cauchi in her care, and wanted him to return to her clinic. But, unless he was a risk to himself or others, she could not invoke the public health act to forcibly medicate him. The powers, or lack thereof, of the mental health act in Queensland will be key to the inquest's findings, with both police and medical professionals unable to force Cauchi into care. 'My responsibility is not to medicate the person that doesn't have psychosis,' Dr A told the court. Cauchi floated in and out of Toowoomba, where his parents lived, but enrolled with a new medical centre in Brisbane. That medical centre requested the 'medical summary' and 'all clinical notes' from Dr A, but she did not pass them on. Chrysanthou said it was 'a failing' on Dr A's part. The new doctors did not know she felt Cauchi needed monthly monitoring. They also did not know about the concerns raised in the months prior. 'What was the use of a new doctor who didn't know his 20-year history because you didn't hand over the notes?' Chrysanthou asked. Dr A said she handed over four recent documents and letters, which was standard practice. 'If they wanted to have anything more they can call me, they can ring me,' Dr A said. Loading 'We don't send patients' clinical notes with private psychiatrists. They have to specifically ask for the whole file to be transferred. Nobody wants the whole file to be transferred … This is [accepted] within psychiatric circles. Some psychiatrists just give the last letter.' Dr A, at the end of her evidence on Wednesday, broke down in tears and was comforted in the witness box by her lawyer.
Sydney Morning Herald
14-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Bondi attacker's psychiatrist backflips over ‘woman hater' claim
'I don't have evidence, it was conjecture on my part and I shouldn't have said that,' Dr A said. 'I shouldn't have speculated all the years later after I completed his treatment.' Within months of ceasing his antipsychotics in 2019, Cauchi's mother Michele began raising the alarm with Dr A's clinic about her son's strange behaviour. She made seven attempts to raise concerns, according to clinical notes. The inquest has heard Cauchi was scrawling countless messages about 'Satanic control', obsessed with pornography and showering compulsively. His mother felt he was hearing voices, but Dr A has consistently denied they were warning signs of psychosis. 'Is hearing voices a sign of psychosis?' Chrysanthou asked. 'Yes, if it was evidenced, but there was no evidence … She didn't even live with him, it's just an opinion of the mother,' Dr A said. Cauchi was ultimately discharged from the private clinic in 2020 at the same time he moved to Brisbane. Dr A had one final telehealth session with Cauchi, but it was cancelled because he had tech issues with Skype and Medicare would not cover the session. 'The government removed the rebate from the telehealth appointment. I'm a private psychiatrist,' Dr A told the court. The psychiatrist said she desperately wanted to keep Cauchi in her care, and wanted him to return to her clinic. But, unless he was a risk to himself or others, she could not invoke the public health act to forcibly medicate him. The powers, or lack thereof, of the mental health act in Queensland will be key to the inquest's findings, with both police and medical professionals unable to force Cauchi into care. 'My responsibility is not to medicate the person that doesn't have psychosis,' Dr A told the court. Cauchi floated in and out of Toowoomba, where his parents lived, but enrolled with a new medical centre in Brisbane. That medical centre requested the 'medical summary' and 'all clinical notes' from Dr A, but she did not pass them on. Chrysanthou said it was 'a failing' on Dr A's part. The new doctors did not know she felt Cauchi needed monthly monitoring. They also did not know about the concerns raised in the months prior. 'What was the use of a new doctor who didn't know his 20-year history because you didn't hand over the notes?' Chrysanthou asked. Dr A said she handed over four recent documents and letters, which was standard practice. 'If they wanted to have anything more they can call me, they can ring me,' Dr A said. Loading 'We don't send patients' clinical notes with private psychiatrists. They have to specifically ask for the whole file to be transferred. Nobody wants the whole file to be transferred … This is [accepted] within psychiatric circles. Some psychiatrists just give the last letter.' Dr A, at the end of her evidence on Wednesday, broke down in tears and was comforted in the witness box by her lawyer.
The Advertiser
14-05-2025
- Health
- The Advertiser
Psychiatrist's major backflip on Bondi attack diagnosis
A former psychiatrist of the Bondi Junction shopping centre attacker has backflipped on a previous statement that the violence was spurred on by sexual frustration. Joel Cauchi, 40, had armed himself with a knife when he fatally stabbed six shoppers at Sydney's Westfield Bondi Junction and injured 10 others in April 2024. The Queensland psychiatrist who treated Cauchi for eight years gave her opinion on the motivation behind the attack at an inquest on Tuesday. "It might have been to do with frustration, sexual frustration, pornography and hatred towards women," she said. However, she reversed this evidence when she returned to the witness box on Wednesday. "It was a conjecture on my part and I should not have said what I said," she told the NSW Coroners Court. "And do you withdraw it?" asked barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC. representing the families of three of Cauchi's victims Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Dawn Singleton. "Yes," the doctor replied. Expert evidence provided to the inquest says Cauchi was "floridly psychotic" during the attack. The officer-in-charge of the police investigation also previously told the coroner that there was no suggestion he had targeted women during the stabbing spree. Diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen, Cauchi had been successfully treated and remained compliant with taking his anti-psychotic medication. But when he shifted from the public to the private system, he formed a plan with the psychiatrist - who cannot be legally identified - to gradually decrease his dosage. By mid-2019, he was completely off the two antipsychotics he was taking. He became detached from the mental health system entirely in early 2020 after moving to Brisbane right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The psychiatrist on Wednesday apologised for "being short" with counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC during questioning on Tuesday. "I'm suffering from acute pain, I'm on medication, I was late for my flight," she said. But she quickly became frustrated by Ms Chrysanthou's grilling, saying the barrister "did not have a degree in medicine" during a barrage of questions about blood tests and levels of antipsychotics. "I have to educate you," she said when asked whether an early warning sign of relapse was actually a sign of psychosis. "I don't want to be educated," Ms Chrysanthou replied. The psychiatrist denied a connection between Cauchi being taken off antipsychotic drugs and months later developing an obsession with pornography and sex. She also dismissed his wanting to take HIV anti-viral drugs after a single visit to a brothel as a sign of paranoia. The doctor also defended her initial assessment of Cauchi in 2012 as having first-episode schizophrenia, despite him exhibiting symptoms in 2001, 2002 and 2008. She, however, conceded she had not passed on her diagnosis to Cauchi's GP. The court was told this differed from her earlier claims that she had a detailed conversation with the GP when she discharged Cauchi in March 2020. No records of a phone call existed, and the first suggestion about the claimed conversation appeared in the psychiatrist's second statement to police in 2025. A discharge letter to the doctor, shown to the court, told him that Cauchi needed a referral to an alternative psychiatrist "if required" and did not list any details about what treatment he'd received. "I was satisfied that I did the right thing," the psychiatrist told the court. The five-week inquest, probing Cauchi's mental health care as well as emergency services' responses to the attack, continues. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 A former psychiatrist of the Bondi Junction shopping centre attacker has backflipped on a previous statement that the violence was spurred on by sexual frustration. Joel Cauchi, 40, had armed himself with a knife when he fatally stabbed six shoppers at Sydney's Westfield Bondi Junction and injured 10 others in April 2024. The Queensland psychiatrist who treated Cauchi for eight years gave her opinion on the motivation behind the attack at an inquest on Tuesday. "It might have been to do with frustration, sexual frustration, pornography and hatred towards women," she said. However, she reversed this evidence when she returned to the witness box on Wednesday. "It was a conjecture on my part and I should not have said what I said," she told the NSW Coroners Court. "And do you withdraw it?" asked barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC. representing the families of three of Cauchi's victims Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Dawn Singleton. "Yes," the doctor replied. Expert evidence provided to the inquest says Cauchi was "floridly psychotic" during the attack. The officer-in-charge of the police investigation also previously told the coroner that there was no suggestion he had targeted women during the stabbing spree. Diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen, Cauchi had been successfully treated and remained compliant with taking his anti-psychotic medication. But when he shifted from the public to the private system, he formed a plan with the psychiatrist - who cannot be legally identified - to gradually decrease his dosage. By mid-2019, he was completely off the two antipsychotics he was taking. He became detached from the mental health system entirely in early 2020 after moving to Brisbane right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The psychiatrist on Wednesday apologised for "being short" with counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC during questioning on Tuesday. "I'm suffering from acute pain, I'm on medication, I was late for my flight," she said. But she quickly became frustrated by Ms Chrysanthou's grilling, saying the barrister "did not have a degree in medicine" during a barrage of questions about blood tests and levels of antipsychotics. "I have to educate you," she said when asked whether an early warning sign of relapse was actually a sign of psychosis. "I don't want to be educated," Ms Chrysanthou replied. The psychiatrist denied a connection between Cauchi being taken off antipsychotic drugs and months later developing an obsession with pornography and sex. She also dismissed his wanting to take HIV anti-viral drugs after a single visit to a brothel as a sign of paranoia. The doctor also defended her initial assessment of Cauchi in 2012 as having first-episode schizophrenia, despite him exhibiting symptoms in 2001, 2002 and 2008. She, however, conceded she had not passed on her diagnosis to Cauchi's GP. The court was told this differed from her earlier claims that she had a detailed conversation with the GP when she discharged Cauchi in March 2020. No records of a phone call existed, and the first suggestion about the claimed conversation appeared in the psychiatrist's second statement to police in 2025. A discharge letter to the doctor, shown to the court, told him that Cauchi needed a referral to an alternative psychiatrist "if required" and did not list any details about what treatment he'd received. "I was satisfied that I did the right thing," the psychiatrist told the court. The five-week inquest, probing Cauchi's mental health care as well as emergency services' responses to the attack, continues. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 A former psychiatrist of the Bondi Junction shopping centre attacker has backflipped on a previous statement that the violence was spurred on by sexual frustration. Joel Cauchi, 40, had armed himself with a knife when he fatally stabbed six shoppers at Sydney's Westfield Bondi Junction and injured 10 others in April 2024. The Queensland psychiatrist who treated Cauchi for eight years gave her opinion on the motivation behind the attack at an inquest on Tuesday. "It might have been to do with frustration, sexual frustration, pornography and hatred towards women," she said. However, she reversed this evidence when she returned to the witness box on Wednesday. "It was a conjecture on my part and I should not have said what I said," she told the NSW Coroners Court. "And do you withdraw it?" asked barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC. representing the families of three of Cauchi's victims Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Dawn Singleton. "Yes," the doctor replied. Expert evidence provided to the inquest says Cauchi was "floridly psychotic" during the attack. The officer-in-charge of the police investigation also previously told the coroner that there was no suggestion he had targeted women during the stabbing spree. Diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen, Cauchi had been successfully treated and remained compliant with taking his anti-psychotic medication. But when he shifted from the public to the private system, he formed a plan with the psychiatrist - who cannot be legally identified - to gradually decrease his dosage. By mid-2019, he was completely off the two antipsychotics he was taking. He became detached from the mental health system entirely in early 2020 after moving to Brisbane right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The psychiatrist on Wednesday apologised for "being short" with counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC during questioning on Tuesday. "I'm suffering from acute pain, I'm on medication, I was late for my flight," she said. But she quickly became frustrated by Ms Chrysanthou's grilling, saying the barrister "did not have a degree in medicine" during a barrage of questions about blood tests and levels of antipsychotics. "I have to educate you," she said when asked whether an early warning sign of relapse was actually a sign of psychosis. "I don't want to be educated," Ms Chrysanthou replied. The psychiatrist denied a connection between Cauchi being taken off antipsychotic drugs and months later developing an obsession with pornography and sex. She also dismissed his wanting to take HIV anti-viral drugs after a single visit to a brothel as a sign of paranoia. The doctor also defended her initial assessment of Cauchi in 2012 as having first-episode schizophrenia, despite him exhibiting symptoms in 2001, 2002 and 2008. She, however, conceded she had not passed on her diagnosis to Cauchi's GP. The court was told this differed from her earlier claims that she had a detailed conversation with the GP when she discharged Cauchi in March 2020. No records of a phone call existed, and the first suggestion about the claimed conversation appeared in the psychiatrist's second statement to police in 2025. A discharge letter to the doctor, shown to the court, told him that Cauchi needed a referral to an alternative psychiatrist "if required" and did not list any details about what treatment he'd received. "I was satisfied that I did the right thing," the psychiatrist told the court. The five-week inquest, probing Cauchi's mental health care as well as emergency services' responses to the attack, continues. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 A former psychiatrist of the Bondi Junction shopping centre attacker has backflipped on a previous statement that the violence was spurred on by sexual frustration. Joel Cauchi, 40, had armed himself with a knife when he fatally stabbed six shoppers at Sydney's Westfield Bondi Junction and injured 10 others in April 2024. The Queensland psychiatrist who treated Cauchi for eight years gave her opinion on the motivation behind the attack at an inquest on Tuesday. "It might have been to do with frustration, sexual frustration, pornography and hatred towards women," she said. However, she reversed this evidence when she returned to the witness box on Wednesday. "It was a conjecture on my part and I should not have said what I said," she told the NSW Coroners Court. "And do you withdraw it?" asked barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC. representing the families of three of Cauchi's victims Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Dawn Singleton. "Yes," the doctor replied. Expert evidence provided to the inquest says Cauchi was "floridly psychotic" during the attack. The officer-in-charge of the police investigation also previously told the coroner that there was no suggestion he had targeted women during the stabbing spree. Diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen, Cauchi had been successfully treated and remained compliant with taking his anti-psychotic medication. But when he shifted from the public to the private system, he formed a plan with the psychiatrist - who cannot be legally identified - to gradually decrease his dosage. By mid-2019, he was completely off the two antipsychotics he was taking. He became detached from the mental health system entirely in early 2020 after moving to Brisbane right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The psychiatrist on Wednesday apologised for "being short" with counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC during questioning on Tuesday. "I'm suffering from acute pain, I'm on medication, I was late for my flight," she said. But she quickly became frustrated by Ms Chrysanthou's grilling, saying the barrister "did not have a degree in medicine" during a barrage of questions about blood tests and levels of antipsychotics. "I have to educate you," she said when asked whether an early warning sign of relapse was actually a sign of psychosis. "I don't want to be educated," Ms Chrysanthou replied. The psychiatrist denied a connection between Cauchi being taken off antipsychotic drugs and months later developing an obsession with pornography and sex. She also dismissed his wanting to take HIV anti-viral drugs after a single visit to a brothel as a sign of paranoia. The doctor also defended her initial assessment of Cauchi in 2012 as having first-episode schizophrenia, despite him exhibiting symptoms in 2001, 2002 and 2008. She, however, conceded she had not passed on her diagnosis to Cauchi's GP. The court was told this differed from her earlier claims that she had a detailed conversation with the GP when she discharged Cauchi in March 2020. No records of a phone call existed, and the first suggestion about the claimed conversation appeared in the psychiatrist's second statement to police in 2025. A discharge letter to the doctor, shown to the court, told him that Cauchi needed a referral to an alternative psychiatrist "if required" and did not list any details about what treatment he'd received. "I was satisfied that I did the right thing," the psychiatrist told the court. The five-week inquest, probing Cauchi's mental health care as well as emergency services' responses to the attack, continues. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636
The Guardian
09-04-2025
- The Guardian
Nine accused of breaching copyright by publishing social media pictures of Bondi Junction stabbing victim
The fiance of a Bondi Junction stabbing victim has taken aim at news outlets republishing social media photos before the first anniversary of the deadly rampage. Ashley Wildey's lawsuit poses potential broader ramifications for the media whose coverage has already been placed in focus by an inquest into the April 2024 mass stabbings. His partner, Dawn Singleton, was among six people killed at a shopping centre in Sydney's east by Joel Cauchi before he was shot dead by police last 13 April. Wildley alleges Nine Network's 60 Minutes program and sister outlet the Sydney Morning Herald breached his copyright with images of the 25-year-old. The newspaper published a picture of Singleton – credited to Facebook – ahead of the inquest's directions hearing on Monday. The situation was 'extremely distressing', given the tragedy's approaching anniversary and an expectation of further alleged infringements, Sue Chrysanthou SC said on Wednesday. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter '[Nine] has taken the view that it is entitled to take photos that it doesn't own from my client's social media at any time and use those photos in any way it wishes,' Chrysanthou told the NSW supreme court. Such use has been happening for almost a year, she said. 'We became overwhelmed with the number of infringements we discovered once we looked into it,' she said. Singleton's father, the ad man John Singleton, has called for the upcoming inquest to be abandoned, describing it as a 'waste of time'. His media campaign in the lead-up included an interview on 60 Minutes in which Singleton's images were used. Barrister Lyndelle Barnett, appearing for Nine, said Wednesday's hearing was the first she heard of the newspaper being brought in to the case. She expressed concerns the lawsuit's expansion would complicate a case Chrysanthou had portrayed as 'pretty straightforward'. But Barnett indicated the outlets may have a defence under fair dealing provisions which limit copyright claims in news reports. The case returns to court in May, after the inquest begins on 28 April. Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Cauchi, 40, killed six people and wounded at least 10 others at a shopping centre in Sydney's east on 13 April 2024, before being shot dead by police. Singleton, 25, Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Pikria Darchia, 55, Yixuan Cheng, 27, and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, were killed. Chrysanthou is representing Singleton's family, excluding her father, as well as relatives of Good and Young at the inquest. They support the inquiry and understood it was mandatory, she said on Monday. Its scope has expanded to include examinations of media attempts to obtain information, images and footage, as well as the impact of reporting on those who lost family members. 'The media will have to reflect deeply on that, we hope,' counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC said. Ahead of the anniversary, a memorial will be established at Bondi Junction on Thursday with displays of photographs and messages on floral tributes laid after the mass homicide. Welfare support officers will be on site over the weekend to support the public.
