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ABC News
29-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Key failings revealed by coronial inquest into Bondi Junction Westfield stabbing attack
For five weeks the coronial inquest into the Bondi Junction Westfield attack tried to comprehend what could have been done to prevent the tragedy and how to better respond to similar acts. Testimony was shared, tears wept and uncomfortable truths acknowledged. On April 13, 2024, Joel Cauchi murdered six people and injured another 10 during a stabbing rampage. Over one year on, here are some of the key failings uncovered during the inquest's hearings. The profound impact of media reporting on the day of the attack and in the aftermath was examined at the request of the bereaved. Sue Chrysanthou SC, who represents some of the victims' families, said her clients asked media companies to "take extreme care to address sensitivities". Counsel assisting the coroner Peggy Dwyer SC said "the media will have to reflect deeply" on graphic footage shown in reports. Julie Singleton, the mother of Dawn Singleton, provided a statement to the inquest, where she described the personal toll. "Very soon after Dawn's death was first reported in the media, reporters appeared and took up position outside my house," she wrote. "Reporters rang my doorbell and left notes in my mailbox seeking comment and/or information for a story. My family and I found this intrusive." Many of Dawn's loved ones were informed of her death via media reports, with Ms Singleton saying their family's privacy was "violated". Dawn's fiancé, Ashley Wildey, also criticised how Dawn's identity as one of the victims of the attack was revealed on talkback radio, Mr Wildey saying it was "extremely upsetting" for this to be done without consent. In his statement to the inquest, he noted several printed inaccuracies in reporting of Dawn, as well as criticising unsolicited communication from journalists. "The cumulative effect of the reporting has caused me and members of Dawn's family immense and immeasurable pain," he said. Elizabeth Young, the mother of 47-year-old victim Jade Young, said of the media: "Our current world has lost site of decency. "Images of Jade's lifeless body being worked on were cast around the world. At the exact minute Cauchi stabbed his first victim, the sole security guard in the Westfield control room, referred to trhoughout the hearings as CR1, happened to be in the bathroom, leaving the CCTV screens unmonitored. CR1's capability was reflected upon in the inquest, as well as the liability of her employer. An independent security expert deemed CR1 to be incompetent as a control room operator due to her limited "skill set" for the role. "You need to have good decision-making skills. You need to be able to multitask. You need to be able to give direction. You need to coordinate," the expert said of security guards reviewing CCTV. "She wasn't obviously up to speed with her competence." Glad Group, a subcontractor for security staff, and Scentre, the parent company of Westfield, were asked about their level of responsibility. A former training manager from Glad Group, who trained CR1, was asked why some induction process documents pertaining to CR1 were not signed off. "There was pressure for recruitment. I hope that didn't affect my training," said the manager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. A security manager from Scentre, whose name also remains under a non-publication order, acknowledged the pressure on guards to be informed, comfortable and confident in responding to extreme crisis events. Scentre has since implemented stab resistant vests, made training more rigorous, and strengthened policies and procedures. There were clear signs Cauchi had chronic schizophrenia. Despite this, his long-term psychiatrist in Queensland, Andrea Boros-Lavack, weaned Cauchi off his anti-psychotic medication entirely by 2019. "There was no evidence that he heard voices," Dr Boros-Lavack said during her evidence, to which Ms Chrysanthou acknowledged an email from Cauchi's mother to Dr Boros-Lavack's clinic in 2019. Ms Cauchi had reported concerns her son was "now hearing voices" and writing notes he was "under satanic control". A panel of five psychiatrists later told the inquest Cauchi's worsening mental health was "not taken seriously enough" by Dr Boros-Lavack. They agreed Cauchi was experiencing psychosis during the 2024 attack — contradicting Dr Boros-Lavack's claim he was not. A senior Queensland Police officer conceded the state's current mental health legislation was too confusing for officers to interpret. Two officers who attended Cauchi's family home in Queensland in 2023 did not believe his mental health reached the threshold to detain him. Currently, the legislation only provides a risk of suicide as an example for police to force someone to seek mental health support. Acting Deputy Commissioner Mark Kelly said: "Our police are attending incidents every day. They maintain their professionalism, they're very considered, balanced, but they've got to operate within the legislation and our values, and also in terms of human rights." Formal findings from the inquest will be released in months to come. Regardless, for those directly affected by the events of April 13, 2024, their grief will remain "truly unfathomable", as Ms Dwyer noted.
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Defiant, argumentative and tearful: STEPHEN GIBBS details how Joel Cauchi's psychiatrist squirmed in the spotlight as she was finally grilled over his deadly rampage
Joel Cauchi's psychiatrist went from argumentative to defiant before finally admitting she was wrong as her treatment of the Bondi Junction mass killer was again put under the spotlight on Wednesday. Dr A - who cannot be identified for legal reasons - returned to the witness box in the State Coroners Court at Lidcombe where she repeatedly clashed with Sue Chrysanthou, SC, the barrister representing three of the families of Cauchi's victims. It followed Dr A's statement on Tuesday where she said Cauchi's rampage stemmed from 'sexual frustration, pornography and hatred towards women' rather than his psychotic state. Although Dr A withdrew her statement after conceding she had indulged in 'conjecture and speculation', she remained defiant on Wednesday. At one point, Dr A told Chrysanthou, 'I don't think you have any degree in medicine', while being quizzed about Cauchi's mental health. At another, Dr A objected to a question from Chrysanthou about Cauchi's schizophrenia by saying: 'That's not true, I have to educate you.' Chyrsanthou: 'I don't want to be educated. I just want you to answer the question.' By the time the psychiatrist was due to face re-examination by Peggy Dwyer, senior counsel assisting the coroner, Dr A, who took Cauchi off all anti-psychotic medications because he didn't like the side effects but remains adamant that she committed no errors in her treatment, was in tears and could not go on. The lunch break was taken early so she could compose herself. State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan is investigating the shopping centre massacre on April 13 last year when 40-year-old knifeman Cauchi killed five women and one man. The carnage ended only when Inspector Amy Scott arrived on the scene and shot Cauchi dead. Those killed by Cauchi were shoppers Dawn Singleton, 25, Jade Young, 47, Yixuan Cheng, 27, Ashlee Good, 38, Pakria Darchia, 55 and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30. The inquiry has previously heard that Cauchi was 'floridly psychotic' but Dr A, who treated him for eight years until 2020, rejected that assessment on Tuesday and denied she had failed in his care. Dwyer: 'What would you say to the suggestion that you refuse to accept that Joel was psychotic on the 13th of April because you don't want to accept yourself the failings in your care of Joel?' Dr A: 'I did not fail in the care of Joel. I refuse - I have no error on my behalf.' On Wednesday, Dr A continued to deny any failings, having helped wean Cauchi off his anti-psychotic medication by July 2019. Dr A's first day giving evidence had featured heated testimony during which she became irritated with Dr Dwyer's line of questioning, telling her to 'move on'. She began her second stint in the witness box by apologising for her behaviour the previous day, admitting she had been 'short at times' with Dwyer during her testimony. 'That's because I am suffering from acute pain and on medication,' she said Cauchi, who grew up in Toowoomba on Queensland's Darling Downs, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen and had been successfully treated for more than two decades. Dr A gradually eased Cauchi off the two antipsychotic drugs he was taking - aripiprazole and clozapine. After Cauchi ceased taking the drugs, his mother Michele contacted the psychiatrist's private clinic seven times raising concerns about possible signs of relapse. Those signs included him leaving notes around their home about Satanic control, experiencing extreme obsessive-compulsive disorder and poor sleep. Dr A previously told the court Cauchi had never been psychotic after he stopped taking aripiprazole and clozapine. She believed he had first-episode schizophrenia, rather than chronic schizophrenia, because he had remained symptom-free while medicated. In early 2020, near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cauchi moved to Brisbane when he was completely cut off from psychiatric care. Having discharging Cauchi to his Toowoomba general practitioner after he relocated to Brisbane, Dr A said there was nothing she could do to follow up his care. Dwyer suggested on Tuesday that Dr A could have made a phone call. 'You could have done that, you just couldn't charge for it,' she said. Dr A accepted she could have done that. On Tuesday, Dr A had also said Cauchi could not have organised the stabbing spree if he was experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia. 'It might have been to do with frustration, sexual frustration, pornography and hatred towards women,' she said. 'That is my opinion.' At the start of the inquest, the office in charge of the police investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Marks, said Cauchi did not appear to have been targeting women. Chrysanthou, who is looking after the interests of the Singleton, Young and Good families, told Dr A on Wednesday her claims about Cauchi's mental state at the time of the attack had shocked and distressed her clients and was 'contrary to all the expert evidence'. Dr A withdrew her earlier statement. 'It was conjecture on my part and I should not have said what I said,' she added. Dr A saw no link between discovering in November 2019 that Cauchi had become obsessed with sex and watching pornography five months after he had stopped taking medication. 'I didn't see any connection between the two, I thought it was a new phenomenon,' Dr A said. Dr A had not believed Cauchi was paranoid when he expressed concern about having contracted HIV after what she called a 'dangerous sexual encounter' with a prostitute. 'It was a reality-based fear,' she said. When Dr A queried the relevance of another of Chyrsanthou's questions the barrister responded: 'Don't worry about the relevance of my questions, just answer them.' Dr A told the court Cauchi had never shown an interest in knives or given her reason to think he might be contemplating violent acts. After Chrysanthou's cross-examination of Dr A it was the turn of Ragni Mathur, SC, the barrister representing a general practitioner who had treated Cauchi. While working through the psychiatrist's contact with that physician, Mathur felt obliged to tell her, 'take a breath', 'pause, pause', and 'Doctor, take a breath'. 'I was satisfied that I did the right thing,' Dr A said at the end of Mathur's questions. Dr A's own barrister, Mark Lynch, had his client explain to the court she was never in a position to make Cauchi take medication if he did not want it. 'It's almost the patient's choice,' she said. 'We can't force them.' Dr A said during her eight years treating Cauchi he had never showed any symptoms of psychosis or signs of being a risk to himself or anyone else. Between December 2015 and February 2020 she had 47 appointments with Cauchi, other psychiatrists had seen him six times, and psychiatric nurses saw him on 77 occasions. Dr A told Lynch she had never been asked to give evidence in a court or tribunal until called to this inquest. Asked if she was doing her utmost to the tell the truth, she said: 'In here, definitely, definitely.' It was after Lynch had finished with his client that Dr A broke down in tears. When she resumed giving evidence following lunch it was under Dwyer's re-examination. After a more than a day and a half of giving evidence, Dr A was asked by Dwyer if she was now prepared to defer to the opinion of experts that Cauchi was psychotic when he killed seven strangers. After a long pause, Dr A finally said 'yes'.
The Guardian
14-05-2025
- The Guardian
Psychiatrist who treated Bondi Junction stabber ‘withdraws' evidence he was not psychotic at time
A psychiatrist who claimed Joel Cauchi was not psychotic when he stabbed 16 people, killing six, in a Sydney shopping centre has spectacularly withdrawn her comments, calling them 'conjecture'. On Wednesday, the coronial inquest into the attack on 13 April 2024 heard the Queensland doctor, who treated Cauchi from 2012 to 2020, had reconsidered her evidence from the previous day, when she stated Cauchi's attack was not the result of psychosis but likely due to his sexual frustrations and 'hatred towards women'. Cauchi, 40, killed Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Yixuan Cheng, 27, Pikria Darchia, 55, Dawn Singleton, 25, and Faraz Tahir, 30, and injured 10 others at Westfield Bondi Junction on 13 April last year, before he was shot and killed by police inspector Amy Scott. 'It was shocking evidence to me and my clients,' Sue Chrysanthou SC, the barrister for the Good, Singleton and Young families, told the court on Wednesday, stating that Dr A's claims the day before were 'contrary to all the expert evidence'. The court had previously heard the expert psychiatric evidence was 'clear and unanimous' that Cauchi was 'floridly psychotic' when he stabbed the 16 victims. 'It was conjecture on my part and I shouldn't have speculated four years later after I completed his treatment,' the psychiatrist, known only as Dr A for legal reasons, said. Chrysanthou asked: 'Do you withdraw it?' Dr A replied: 'Yes.' In the fiery exchange with Chrysanthou, the doctor also said that Cauchi's obsession with sex, including his compulsive use of porn, sexual frustration and visit to a sex worker, emerged for the first time in November 2019, five months after stopping antipsychotic medication, Abilify. But, she said, it was not related to the cessation of the medication. Chrysanthou asked Dr A whether she believed it was a 'coincidence' that for the first time, Cauchi exhibited an obsession with porn, a preoccupation with sex and a paranoia about getting an STI, months after coming off his antispsychotic drugs. 'I want to suggest to you that you understood [those sexual obsessions were] a direct result of him being taken off the Abilify earlier that year,' the barrister said. Dr A replied: 'I didn't see any connection between the two, I thought it was a new phenomenon.' On Tuesday, the court heard that Cauchi's mother repeatedly raised concerns around her son's behaviour – such as the belief he was under Satanic control, his extreme OCD, compulsive use of porn and changes to his gait – which Dr A initially considered early warning signs of a psychotic relapse but then attributed to stress and fear caused by a risky sexual encounter. At one point on Wednesday, Chrysanthou suggested that an early warning sign of relapse was a sign or evidence of psychosis. Sign up to Morning Mail Our Australian morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'That's not true, I have to educate you,' Dr A told her. Chrysanthou replied: 'I don't want to be educated, I just want you to answer the question.' After a tense exchange about the accuracy of using blood tests to determine whether the drug clozapine had therapeutic effects, Dr A told the barrister: 'I don't think you have any degree in medicine.' Dr A has repeatedly told the court that she never saw any evidence of psychosis in Cauchi, that he never raised concerns about safety or showed any interest in weapons. The court continued exploring the processes around Cauchi's discharge from the psychiatrist when he moved to Brisbane in 2020, including inconsistencies in her accounts of the amount of information she provided for his onward care. Dr A said she had no choice but to hand Cauchi's care to his GP in Toowoomba, given that he did not have a GP in Brisbane. During further questioning, it was put to Dr A that on every occasion she had been asked about her handover to the GP after discharging Cauchi, her 'evidence had changed'.
