Source : Perth Now news
Bondi killer Joel Cauchi “laid his hands” on his dad and called his mum a “b**ch” after his military knives were confiscated more than a year before the fatal attack.
Six people were killed and 10 others were injured in the attack at Westfield Bondi Junction on April 13, 2024.
Dawn Singleton, Yixuan Cheng, Faraz Ahmed Tahir, Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Pikria Darchia died in the incident.
Cauchi, 40, had gone on a rampage through the palatial shopping centre with a WWII knife purchased at a camping store before being gunned down by NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott.
A five-week coronial inquest into the deadly stabbing began last Monday, with the first week revealing never-before-heard details about the incident.
Cauchi was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 17 and was medicated for more than a decade to treat the condition until he stopped taking all psychotropic medication in June 2019.
He called the police on his father in January 2023, claiming he had stolen his military knives.
Body-worn video was played in court, showing two officers, who cannot be identified, talking to Cauchi and his parents separately.
The officer who spoke to his parents told the other officer that Cauchi wasn’t on medication at the time but had been on a “significant amount of medication his whole life” previously.
“Given that his mental health has declined a little bit over time … dad’s got them and given them to a friend … he’s worried about his mental health,” the officer said.
“Today he’s actually laid hands on him, hands, like sort of ‘Give me my knives’.”
Cauchi wasn’t thinking clearly, was up pacing around at 3am, but he hadn’t made any threats to harm anyone, the officer said in the video.
“He’s called his mum a b**ch and things like that,” the officer said.
“He’s never done that before … their relationship is usually very good.
“He has told his mum that she’s a b**ch, laid his hands on his dad …. dad’s fine.”
The officer said she had let Cauchi’s mum know he hadn’t said anything “that would have us take him away”, and his mum said he wouldn’t be getting his knives “because who knows, who knows what’s going on, especially if he’s going to lose contact with reality”.
She said his mum was concerned because he couldn’t live with anyone else, and they were trying to figure out where else he could live after moving back from Brisbane.
“Because there’s no history, and this is the first time it’s ever happened … maybe if you have a chat with him and say ‘Oi, don’t be f***ing laying hands on your parents, that’s serious’,” the officer said
She said Cauchi would eventually get his knives back, but his dad was worried about his son’s mental health.
Body-worn camera footage from the other attending officer showed Cauchi appearing to be calm throughout the incident.
“My dad has taken some of my property, it’s pretty expensive and he won’t give it back. I tried to resolve it,” Cauchi told the officer.
The officer checked the police system during the interaction. It showed Cauchi was a weapons licence holder who had a mental health condition.
The officer told the court that he was concerned Cauchi was a weapons licence holder and he’d made inquiries about this.
When he asked Cauchi if he was a weapons licence holder, he said no.
He also told the officer that he’d been feeling “better” since going off medication.
‘Does not know he’s sick’: Mum’s plea
The court was previously told his mother had told Queensland Police in early 2023 her son “really needs to see a doctor but he does not know he’s sick” after Cauchi called the police, accusing his father of stealing his knives.
Cauchi told police he could become broke and potentially be “at risk of being killed” as a result of his father confiscating the knives, which had been done over concerns about his son having access to them.
While the officers “formed the view that Mr Cauchi was unwell” following the interaction, they didn’t think it was necessary to take immediate steps to have Cauchi assessed or arrested.
One of the attending officers did send an email requesting a follow-up on Cauchi’s mental health, however “it appears that the email was missed”.
The inquest is set to probe whether the lack of follow up after his interactions with Queensland Police was “a missed opportunity for intervention”.
Police ‘generally not helpful’ in mental health incidents
A senior NSW police officer who attended Westfield Bondi Junction on the day of the attack earlier said police in the eastern beaches area responded up to 130 mental health presentations per month.
NSW Police Chief Inspector Christopher Whalley said it was “recognised” that police involvement in the mental health space “doesn’t provide the best outcomes” and is “generally not helpful”.
“I think I still see a growth in police being called to that type of incident, which seems contrary to what the academic writings would suggest is the most appropriate way to provide help to those who are experiencing a mental health crisis,” Inspector Whalley told the court.
“I think it’s well recognised that the mental health space in NSW … from a NSW Police perspective, is second only to domestic violence in terms of the frequency and the time that is consumed by it.
“I often reflect on those academic writings and what they say about what offers the best outcomes for mental health consumers.
“I think there’s opportunities to improve outcomes for people, and those outcomes might not involve police.”
