Westfield inquest findings delayed ‘out of respect’
A coroner has delayed delivering her findings on Joel Cauchi's deadly mall rampage. Photo: AAP
Answers from the inquest into the deadly mass stabbing at Westfield Bondi will be delayed until next year out of respect for the victims of a fresh massacre in the same area of Sydney.
NSW State Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan presided over a five-week inquest earlier this year that probed the circumstances surrounding the deadly attack on April 13, 2024.
She heard Joel Cauchi, 40, had been experiencing psychotic symptoms and was armed with a knife when he killed six people and injured 10 others, including a nine-month-old baby.
O’Sullivan had intended to hand down her findings and make recommendations for change before the end of the year, but has decided to delay the delivery in deference to the victims of Sunday’s Hanukkah shooting at Bondi Beach.
“After consulting with the families of the victims of the Westfield Bondi Junction tragedy, and out of respect for the victims of the devastating events at Bondi Beach … the Bondi Junction inquest findings will now be delivered on 5 February 2026,” a statement from the NSW coroner said on Tuesday.
“The state coroner extends her deepest condolences to all those impacted by these tragic events.”
Fifteen people – including a 10-year-old girl – were killed when two gunmen opened fire on a crowd of people celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach on Sunday night.
The gunmen – 50-year-old Sajid Akram and his 24-year-old son Naveed – were both shot by police. Sajid Akrma died but his son survived. He remains under police guard in hospital.
It is the worst modern-day mass shooting since 35 people were killed in the infamous Port Arthur Massacre in 1996, and the deadliest anti-Semitic act in Australia’s history.
It came less than two years after Cauchi stabbed more than a dozen people during a rampage at the Westfield shopping mall in Bondi Junction – the suburb next to the beach.
Dawn Singleton, 25, Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Pikria Darchia, 55, Yixuan Cheng, 27 and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, died before Cauchi was fatally shot by Inspector Amy Scott.
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-AAP
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