‘He hadn’t seen Dawn since she was 8’: daughter rips into John Singleton over 60 Minutes interview

The sister of Bondi Junction massacre victim Dawn Singleton has slammed her father, prominent adman John Singleton, over his 60 Minutes interview, saying he hadn’t seen Dawn ‘since she was 8’.

Bondi stabbing victims clockwise from top left: Dawn Singleton, Ashlee Good, Cheng Yixuan, Faraz Ahmed Tahir, Jade Young and Pikria Darchia.

The sister of Bondi Junction massacre victim Dawn Singleton has slammed her father, prominent adman John Singleton, for speaking about Dawn on 60 Minutes, claiming he had “not seen her since she was 8”, as other members of the family launched legal action against the Nine network over the program.

On Monday, Mr Singleton’s youngest daughter Daisy said her father had misrepresented Dawn in an interview with 60 Minutes where he lobbied for a coronial inquest not to be held into the mass stabbing.

The Singleton family, excluding Mr Singleton, were represented at the final directions hearing before a coronial inquest into the horrific event by high profile barrister Sue Chrysanthou who took aim at “inaccurate” media reports framing murderer Joel Cauchi’s rampage.

Ms Chrysanthou also appeared for the families of Ashlee Good and Jade Young. Her sentiments were echoed by lawyers for the families of Cheng Yixuan, Pikria Darchia and Faraz Tahir, with the coroner and counsel seeking to assuage concerns over “ghoulish” evidence.

Lawyers Sue Chrysanthou and Jeremy Marel seen leaving the Lidcombe Coroners Court. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NewsWire

The hearing came a day after Mr Singleton told 60 Minutes he was concerned the inquest would be “sick, macabre, ghoulish” if counsel assisting the coroner opted to show CCTV of Cauchi’s attacks.

“I’m worried about the family or loved ones of those people who were killed, and I don’t see why their privacy should be upset by an inquiry,” Mr Singleton argued.

However, in comments on social media Daisy Singleton attacked the veracity of Mr Singleton’s interview, echoing Ms Chrysanthou’s accusation on Monday that the program was “highly inaccurate”.

“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,” Ms Singleton said on Instagram.

“He left her and the family when she was 8-years-old. That is why he only speaks about her as a young child and there (are) only pictures of her as a young child.

“He did not know her from the ages of 8-25. Her family begged him not to do this interview and he did it anyway.”

However, Mr Singleton said in the 60 Minutes interview that in the two weeks before Dawn’s death he had helped her choose a wedding dress, and she had ordered him a jacket to wear as he walked her down the aisle.

A Nine spokesperson told The Australian: “We stand by the accuracy of our story, which was sensitively edited and produced. All the families of the victims of this terrible event should have a voice, and that includes John Singleton. We will continue to report these matters respectfully and sensitively.”

The inquest comes nearly a year after murderer Joel Cauchi brandished a knife through the Westfield centre, killing six people and harming 12 others. The “mass casualty event” at the Bondi Junction Westfield will receive five weeks of analysis from April 28 to May 30.

Ms Chrysanthou rebuked the “insensitive” and “inaccurate” reporting of select media outlets, namely 60 Minutes.

“I just wish to make it plain on behalf of my clients … they understand the mandatory nature of this inquest and they support it,” Ms Chrysanthou said.

“Their lives have been changed in a way that none of us can really comprehend having not been in their situation. Children’s lives have been altered by what occurred, and it’s important for them to understand if anything else could have been done, or if any recommendations can be made by you to ensure that if this ever happens again, it won’t be as impactful on the family as it has been.

“The families I represent were very adversely impacted by some members of the media and how they behaved in the minutes and hours and days after the tragedy occurred, they continue to be impacted, including by reason of a broadcast last night by one of Australia’s media companies.

“They ask that members of the media, reporting on the inquest, reporting on the anniversary which is coming up, take extreme care to address the sensitivities of each family, not just my clients, but the other four families involved.

“It is incomprehensible to us who are not in their shoes to understand how insensitive and inaccurate — in the case of last night’s broadcast, highly inaccurate — media reporting makes this process so much worse for them.”

Australian businessman John Singleton appearing on 60 Minutes. Picture: 60 Minutes

Law firm Giles George, acting on behalf Mr Singleton’s former wife Julie Singleton and Dawn’s fiance Ashley Wildey, made a breach of copyright claim against Nine after it put to air promos that included social media photos and video of Dawn.

The firm requested the broadcaster pull the promos and scrub sensitive material from its final broadcast, which it agreed to do.

“(Nine cannot use) any photograph obtained from any of Dawn Singleton’s social media accounts without the express licence of (Ashley Wildey) and (Julie Singleton),” a legal summons acquired by The Australian reads.

The matter will return to the Supreme Court on Wednesday and Friday.

By the request of the families, the inquest broadened its scope to investigate how the media made efforts to acquire evidence and footage in the stabbing’s aftermath, and the impact of reporting on those affected.

Peggy Dwyer SC, the counsel assisting the coroner, affirmed Ms Chrysanthou’s reprimand in detailing the sensitivities of the inquest. She argued it was hypocritical for 60 Minutes to expose viewers to footage from the attack on April 13 last year, while urging the coroner not to do the same.

“It is somewhat ironic that the program last night, reporting on the concerns about media, played some graphic footage,” Dr Dwyer said.

“With the anniversary coming up, the media might want to reflect whether it is in the interest of the public to replay again and again that graphic footage, because that will not be played in this court.”

Given the “significant distress” it would cause, Dr Dwyer said no CCTV or sensitive body-worn footage would be shown from the day of the attack. However, she flagged the inquest would still contain body-worn video from Queensland Police meeting with Cauchi at his family home in January 2023 in order to understand his mental health presentation.

Central topics at the full inquest will include shortcomings of the mental health system and the emergency response procedures of the Westfield’s owner Scentre group and its dual security subcontractors Falcon Manpower Solution and Glad Group, which are expected to face criticism and were signposted as particular interests of the families.

At a prior hearing in November, the inquest heard how Cauchi, 40, went unmedicated for five years before the attacks despite being diagnosed with severe mental health issues, and was confronted by police on at least four occasions yet eluded intervention.

His mental health “deteriorated” and he was often homeless, living between Toowoomba, Sydney and Brisbane. Cauchi twice called the police on his parents for “stealing” his collection of knives, which they hid away out of concern for his diminishing mental state.

Dr Dwyer said Cauchi, 40, had struggled with schizophrenia and other mental health conditions since he was a teenager. From 2001 to 2012, he was prescribed psychotropic medication and treated in the public health system.

From 2012 to February 2020, he saw a private psychiatrist and was gradually tapered off the medicine clozapine from December 2011 to June 2019. After moving to Brisbane in early 2020 he received no care, the court heard. He went without medical support until his death.

Using the collected testimony of more than 200 witnesses and emergency service providers, a review of CCTV and associated evidence, the coroner had pieced together a to-the-second breakdown of Cauchi’s final hours on April 13 last year.

More than 100 calls were made to triple-zero after the attack, with ambulances arriving about 10 minutes after the first stabbing.

The first alarm did not sound in the shopping centre until 3.39pm, five minutes after the attack began and a minute after Cauchi was shot.

In the coming inquest, the court will hear from Cauchi’s doctors, friends and loved ones. There will also be a review of his medical records and investigation of “his phone, his writings and anything that he possessed”. NSW Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan will preside over the inquest.

Expert witnesses will include four psychiatrists, a toxicologist, a security expert, an emergency medicine doctor and a GP. Counsel assisting will seek to provide its final written submissions by August 14, followed by family statements by September 5 and the final statements of interested parties “who may face criticism” by September 25. An additional round of oral submissions may be held on October 9.

Dr Dwyer signposted recommendations around possible alternatives for the treatment of chronic schizophrenia, restrictions on selling weapons like the K-BAR knife used by Cauchi, the utility of giving security contractors new equipment and media regulation codes of conduct.