Bondi Junction inquest exposes family division after ‘incomprehensible’ tragedy

One year after a knife-wielding killer took the lives of six people at Bondi Junction Westfield, a schism has developed between family members affected by the horrific tragedy.

The divide has been exposed on the eve of the anniversary of the tragedy after businessman John Singleton, father of one of the victims, Dawn Singleton, called for the inquest to be shelved just weeks before it begins.

Bondi Junction Westfield stabbing victim Dawn Singleton.Credit: 60 Minutes

Joel Cauchi, 40, was mentally unwell when he took a large “Ka-Bar” knife into the shopping centre in Sydney’s east and began stabbing shoppers at random on 13 April 2024.

He killed Singleton, 25, Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Cheng Yixuan, 27, Pikria Darchia, 55 and Faraz Tahir, 30. A further 10 people were injured but survived.

Cauchi was shot dead by NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott, who had bravely entered the shopping centre alone to confront the killer.

State Coroner of NSW Magistrate Teresa O’Sullivan on Monday convened a short hearing for the inquest into the deaths of all seven people, before the inquest properly begins on April 28.

Dawn Singleton’s father, John Singleton, asked for the inquest to be cancelled and questioned whether it would provide any benefit.Credit: 60 Minutes

Dawn Singleton’s father, businessman John, was absent from the court, but his presence hung over the hearing after an interview broadcast on Nine’s 60 Minutes on Sunday evening.

“He kills these people, he gets killed. End of story,” the former adman said.

“What else do they want to find out? For four weeks?”

Singleton called for the inquest to be halted and suggested it was only lawyers who would “have a ball” at the hearing.

Six people were killed in the attacks. Clockwise from top left: Ashlee Good, Jade Young, Dawn Singleton, Yixuan Cheng, Faraz Tahir and Pikria Darchia.

“Why do you have to include the actual killings? You want the knife going in? Do you want the blood? It’s like the first five minutes of Taxi Driver,” Singleton said.

“To live through again the macabre footage as they’re all being stabbed and dying, that is absolutely unwanted in this case.”

Such sensitive CCTV and body-cam footage, which captured the horrific scenes at the shopping centre, will not be played in the inquest or released, the court heard.

Daisy Singleton, Dawn’s sister and daughter of John, denounced her father’s interview in Instagram comments reported by news.com.au on Monday.

John Singleton with his daughter Dawn Singleton when she was a child.Credit: 60 Minutes

“He had simply not seen her since she was 8 and has no business speaking about her on national TV while (her) family is grieving,” Daisy wrote.

“Her family begged him not to do this interview and he did it anyway but had nothing to say about her as an adult.”

Barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, appeared for Singleton’s family in the court on Monday – but pointed out she was not acting for John.

Chrysanthou said the families she represented, the Singleton, Good and Young families, wholly support the inquest.

“From their perspective, their lives have been changed in a way that none of us can really comprehend not being in their situation,” Chrysanthou told the coroner’s court at Lidcombe.

“Children’s lives have been altered by what occurred. It’s important for them to understand if anything else could have been done, or any recommendations could be made by you to ensure if this happens again it won’t be as impactful on the family as it has been.”

Chrysanthou said the families were suffering an “incomprehensible” loss, and called the broadcast of Singleton’s comments “insensitive and highly inaccurate” though did not explain which parts were in dispute.

O’Sullivan thanked the family member who had dialled in to the court, including the brother and sister of Tahir, who died while on duty as a security guard in the Westfield.

Shoppers place flowers at the memorial inside the centre.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

The barrister representing Tahir’s family, Lester Fernandez, SC, said the guard’s family had dialled in at 1am from the UK in a sign of their support for the inquest.

“As the anniversary of this tragic event approaches the assisting team and I are aware this is a particularly difficult time for you,” O’Sullivan said.

“I also acknowledge the many people deeply affected by events of that day. The impact of this tragedy continue to be felt by the people who were injured, those who bravely responded and rendered aid.”

The hearing heard the inquest will focus on a range of issues including whether there were “gaps in the mental health system” which Cauchi slipped through.

Cauchi had been living with schizophrenia since 2001 and was managed by the public mental health system in his native Queensland until 2012.

Between 2012 and 2020, he saw a private psychiatrist in Toowoomba and was medicated using two psychotropic drugs.

Queensland Police never charged Cauchi with any crimes, but he was transitioned off his medication at the guidance of psychiatric carers in the years before his attack.

In 2023, Cauchi called police to his parents’ Toowoomba home, telling officers his father had stolen his knife collection.

By early 2024, the inquest heard, Cauchi had migrated to NSW, was homeless and living under the Maroubra beach pavilion.

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