Bondi stabbing inquest: hunt for the truth amid the horror

Top lawyers are treading carefully through the Bondi stabbing inquest, determined not to further traumatise families of the victims in their bid to uncover the truth. PLUS: Readers send messages of thanks to hero cop Amy Scott.

A sombre Amy Scott walks down the path towards the entrance to the Lidcombe Coroners Complex on Monday morning.

It’s early, she and her parents are the first people here on this chilly April morning, and the building isn’t even open yet.

The TV camera crews trail her every move, newspaper photographers click away but there’s no media scrum today. No one will jostle for the best position, today or any day for the next five weeks.

It’s one of the first signs the inquest into the Bondi Junction stabbing is not your usual court affair.

State Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan has been adamant from the start that the court adopt a “trauma-informed” approach to the proceedings.

The families of the six killed during Joel Cauchi’s three-minute stabbing rampage are at the forefront of every decision made inside and outside the courtroom.

It has meant a deliberate move to limit interactions between family members and the media, avoiding playing graphic and distressing footage in court, and the provision of what appears to be a small army of support people to assist families and witnesses alike.

Hero police officer Amy Scott (left) arrives at the Lidcombe Coroners Court. Picture: Nikki Short

Back outside the building, others slowly trickle in over the next half an hour or so.

The gloomy weather, which fluctuates between biting wind and intermittent downpour, only seems to reinforce the bleak reason they are here.

Some relatives have chosen not to attend the proceedings in person, opting to watch via a dedicated video link instead so they can keep their grief ­private.

But others appear determined to be present for some, if not all of what will most certainly be weeks of confronting and at times, highly frustrating, evidence.

Julie Martin, the mum of victim Dawn Singleton. Picture: John Appleyard

Dawn Singleton was the first person killed in the attack. Picture: Supplied

Julie Martin, the ex-wife of millionaire adman John Singleton and mother of Cauchi’s first victim, Dawn Singleton, turned up alone on Tuesday to hear Inspector Scott give evidence in court.

She, like so many others, watched on as the decorated senior officer described gunning down Cauchi and stopping the massacre.

The next day, the court heard Dawn had asked a bystander to call an ambulance after becoming the first victim of Cauchi’s rampage.

Muzafer Ahmad Tahir and Sheraz Ahmad, the brothers of slain security guard Faraz, have attended each day of the inquest so far, listening intently as lawyers explained second by second, minute by minute, the tragedy that unfolded that fateful afternoon.

It’s unlikely Faraz would have been aware of that passage of time when he and a fellow guard got the “code black” alert, notifying them of an armed offender in the building.

It was his first day on the job, but Faraz ran towards unknown danger, unaware he would soon become Cauchi’s fifth victim.

Muzafer Ahmad Tahir, the brother of slain security guard Faraz Tahir. Picture: John Appleyard

It was security guard Faraz Tahir’s first day on the job. Picture: Supplied

Specialist care paramedic Chris Wilkinson spared the gruesome details when he told the inquest on Wednesday of his attempts to save Faraz’s life.

But he reserved arguably the most important words for Faraz’s family.

“We did everything we possibly could,” he said poignantly.

Also in court every day so far have been the two sons of Georgian-born Pikria Darchia, Cauchi’s sixth and last victim.

Little has been said of Pikria, other than a brief overview in the opening statements ­addressing the timeline of her death and nature of her ­injuries.

This is not oversight though, or a careless lapse – it’s a deliberate measure.

All those involved in this inquest are acutely aware of not causing further trauma to the already traumatised families, who may have once been separated by oceans, but are now forever united in their grief.

Pikria Darchia’s two sons have sat in the inquest every day. Picture: John Appleyard

Pikria Darchia was the sixth person killed at Bondi Westfield that day. Picture: Supplied

Peppered among the grieving relatives, easily distinguishable by their laptops and folders of paperwork, are the lawyers who have been given the monumental task of piecing everything together.

While they may like to stay incognito, the reality is some of the greatest legal minds in the country are working on this inquest.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Dr Peggy Dwyer SC, was at the forefront of the inquest into the death of Northern Territory teenager Kumanjayi Walker, who was fatally shot by police officer Zachary Rolfe.

Then there’s her deputy, barrister Emma Sullivan, who secured an acquittal on rape charges for international Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka.

Another big name at the bar table is famed defamation lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC.

She is representing the families of Dawn Singleton, Jade Young and Ashlee Good at this inquest, but has previously represented TV star Lisa Wilkinson in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial and successfully sued the ABC on behalf of former army commando Heston Russell.

Adam Casselden SC, who is representing security company Glad Group, recently ran the coronial probe into the death of 20-year-old Manly Sea Eagles player Keith Titmuss, while Sophie Callan SC, who is appearing on behalf of NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb, was previously involved in the Lindt Cafe siege inquest.

Despite their numbers, few lawyers have actually spoken in great detail this week.

Some have quizzed the ambos on their policies, others have asked a couple of questions of the cops, but for the most part they just sit there, listening and taking notes.

That is likely to change next week.

Four Queensland police officers who had interactions with Cauchi a year before the stabbings will get in the ­witness box on Monday.

They are likely to be grilled about why they refused a request by Cauchi’s worried mother to have her “sick” son psychologically assessed.

It’s been suggested more than one such incident, from cancelled appointments with doctors to interactions with health and emergency services, collectively failed to get Cauchi the intervention he needed – intervention that State Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan has been told may have just prevented the tragic events of April 13, 2024.

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