‘Let’s go catch him’: Bollard men Silas Despreaux and Damien Guerot knew they needed to stop killer Joel Cauchi ‘even if it meant hurting him’

Two men who used bollards to confront a mass murderer on an escalator inside a Westfield carried out another act of pure heroism that wasn’t caught on camera.

The two foreign nationals who picked up bollards from a nearby shop to defend themselves against killer Joel Cauchi immediately jumped in to help as soon as they heard of the horror unfolding.

Joel Cauchi, 40, killed six people and injured 10 during a stabbing rampage at the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre in Sydney’s east on April 13, 2024.

Dawn Singleton, Yixuan Cheng, Faraz Ahmed Tahir, Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Pikria Darchia were all killed in the attack.

Inspector Amy Scott, working alone, shot Cauchi dead during the incident and is credited with saving multiple lives as a result.

A five-week coronial inquest into Cauchi’s “state of mind” both before the fatal attack and on the day, including whether he may have targeted any particular individuals or groups, began on Monday.

French construction workers Silas Despreaux and Damien Guerot captivated the nation after haunting CCTV footage emerged of the moment Mr Guerot stood at the top of an escalator brandishing a bollard, just metres away from a knife-wielding Cauchi.

Silas Despreaux and Damien Guerot, the two French nationals who challenged Joel Cauchi with a bollard during his attack. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

French nationals Damien Guerot and Silas Despreaux went viral after video emerged of them confronting Cauchi and slowing his assault on shoppers.

They later found Inspector Scott, with footage showing Mr Guerot running behind her with a chair in the moments before she fatally shot Cauchi.

Mr Guerot and Mr Despreaux were quickly dubbed “bollard men” and widely praised for their bravery.

Mr Despreaux had turned to Mr Guerot and said “let’s go catch him” after hearing someone say there was “a man stabbing people”, the inquest was told on Tuesday.

The pair took bollards from a store and another shopper directed Mr Despreaux that Cauchi had ran downstairs.

They followed him from a level above with the bollards.

Mr Despreaux earlier said in a police statement he felt he “needed to stop Cauchi even if it meant hurting him”.

The pair then came to an escalator, where they managed to usher a woman, seemingly unaware of Cauchi on the floor below, out of harm’s way.

Mr Guerot said he “screamed at the lady to come up the escalator”.

Once she was out of the way Mr Despreaux managed to throw the bollard at Cauchi, and while it touched him it didn’t appear to make much difference to him.

At the same time, Mr Guerot had moved onto the opposite escalator which was going down to try and trap Cauchi.

However, when Mr Guerot missed, he ran back up to be with Mr Despreaux, who had began to run out of the centre once his own bollard missed Cauchi.

Bondi stabbing victims (top l-r) Jade Young, Ashlee Good, Dawn Singleton, (bottom l-r) Cheng Yixuan, Faraz Ahmed Tahir and Pikria Darchia.

Mr Guerot then tried to throw the bollard at Cauchi but also missed.

Mr Guerot appeared to cry while giving his condolences to the families of those who died in the attack.

“I just want to say sorry for the family, for everyone who lost someone,” Mr Guerot said.

‘We’re coming with you’: Bollard men

The pair also helped Inspector Scott find Cauchi and were “witnesses to the eventual shooting of Mr Cauchi”.

“As we’re going up the escalator … one of them sort of tapped me on the back and said ‘You’re on your own, we’re coming with you’,” Inspector Scott said.

“They were wonderful.”

Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan commended them both for their “extraordinary courage”.

“It was extraordinary the things that you did on that day, and I hope that you are healing, and I hope that this process helps your healing a little bit as well,” Ms O’Sullivan said.

Mr Despreaux couldn’t remember exactly when Inspector Scott pulled out her gun, but remembered “yelling at the police officer ‘shoot him, shoot him’”.

Speaking outside court, Mr Guerot said he knew they had two choices on the day of the attack.

“I was like, when we get in this situation, of course fear came a bit,” he told reporters.

“I was like, we have two choices: we escape, or we go, and Silas was like …’we go, we find the bollard, we just throw on him’, and that time I would say my mind switch.”

When asked why they ran after Inspc Scott, Mr Despreaux said “she was alone”.

Mr Despreaux said he was “scared” on the day, but that they “didn’t think maybe about getting hurt”.

“We just think, ‘Stop him’,” Mr Geurot said.

Mr Despreaux said they thought about the attack often.

Mr Geurot called Inspector Scott a “hero”.

Damien Guerot and Silas Despreaux spoke outside the coroners court on Tuesday morning. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Speaking at the inquest on Tuesday, Inspc Scott shared how she moved two women pushing prams and another young child out of harms way.

“I knew that there were civilians behind me up close, so I started to usher them back behind me,” Inspector Scott said.

“I saw a lady and a pram – there were actually two ladies and a pram, but one sort of had run away already.”

Inspector Scott said one lady had hidden behind a large pot plant, and she’d signalled and mouthed for her to “run”.

“For a second (Cauchi) turned as if he was going to go that way and at that point I yelled out ‘Mate’ to get his attention back to me,” Inspector Scott said.

She told the court she attempted to get her body worn video on, and while she took her eyes off for that second, Cauchi “sprinted downhill” at her with his knife out.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Peggy Dwyer SC, said Cauchi looked like he was about to follow that lady with the pram, which was why Inspc Scott had yelled out to him.

She then fired at Cauchi, with one of the bullets landing in the pot plant the lady had just been hiding behind.

“I knew on the day it went into that pot plant that that lady had been hiding behind,” Inspector Scott said.

“You effectively directed away a civilian standing there with a pram … she may well have been injured or a child by the ricochet,” Dr Dwyer said.

‘Never forget’

A senior police officer who attended Westfield Bondi Junction on the day of the attack held back tears while saying it was an incident he would “not forget”.

NSW Police Chief Inspector Christopher Whalley pointed to the “commitment” shown by all emergency services, security guards and security operatives who were present on the day when he was asked “what went well”.

“It was an incident I’ll not forget,” Inspector Whalley said, becoming choked up.

The pair earlier gave evidence in court. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

He needed a moment to compose himself before he continued.

“As an example of what young police do, and what we ask them to do as managers, I walked back through the centre, because that’s the only way I knew to get out of there,” he told the court.

“So I followed the breadcrumbs back out, and I stopped and spoke to some of the 25 odd young people … who attended that scene.

“Some police there were guarding one of the scenes within the centre and (I) asked why they were standing where they were, which was quite close to one of the people who’d been affected, and their response was ‘Because I don’t want to leave them alone’.”

Inspector Whalley again became choked up, with the court taking a short break.

“These are the things that stay with you, Your Honor,” he said, apologising.

He earlier told the court he met Inspector Scott when he arrived on the scene and saw a “clearly deceased” Cauchi.

“First of all I asked Inspector Scott if she was ok, and acknowledging that there was a clearly deceased person in my view nearby, and I asked her if that was … the crook … and she said yes,” he told the court.

“I asked her if he was dead and she said ‘Yeah I shot him’.”

He said he took over the response from there.

“She clearly wasn’t in position to be able to take command of that situation, the response, so I said words to the effect of ‘I’ll take over’,” he said.

Mental health presentations to police ‘second only to domestic violence’

Police in the eastern beaches area respond to as many as 130 mental health incidents per month, with the presentation of mental health incidents “second only to domestic violence”.

Inspc Whalley said police in the area respond to up to 130 mental health presentations per month, with many “frequent presenters” leaving police “going back to the same people”.

“The officers of eastern beaches come into contact with people with a diagnosed condition, be they suffering a crisis, immediate crisis … roughly four times a day over a month,” he said.

He 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,” Inspc 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.”

‘I thought that he was going to kill me’

Inspector Scott revealed what was going through her mind as she fired the first bullet at Cauchi, who was running towards her.

“(I thought) that he was going to kill me,” Inspector Scott said.

SHero of the Bondi stabbing attack, Police Inspector Amy Scott, arrives at The Coroners Court at Lidcombe on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

The court was told Inspector Scott fired the first bullet, however she continued to back up as Cauchi kept advancing towards her.

Firing twice more, Cauchi collapsed, with Inspector Scott also falling to the floor because she was backing up so quickly.

Chillingly, by the time Cauchi fell, he had “advanced beyond” where Inspector Scott was first standing.

“The way he’d fallen the knife was actually underneath him,” Inspector Scott said, telling the court she couldn’t see it.

“I wasn’t sure if I’d completely incapacitated him enough, but I just knew I had to bite the bullet and make sure that weapon was secure.”

She pulled him into the recovery position, saw the knife was in his body, flicked it away and began to render aid to him.

She then asked a security guard to go check if the round she knew had missed had hit anyone.

Inspector Scott said shoppers were saying “What’s going on” as the incident unfolded.

“People weren't aware of what was happening,” she said.

She said others were “inherently aware of what was happening”.

‘Probably going to die’

Inspector Scott earlier in the day said she had “resigned myself to the fact that I was probably going to die” as she headed into the centre.

“I actually felt nauseous as I ran in because in my head I resigned myself to the fact that I was probably going to die,” she told the court.

She explained when doing active armed offender training they would talk about survival rates, which were estimated to be between about 60 to 70 per cent for officers partnered up and wearing a vest.

“And I was neither of those,” she said.

Cop breaks down

She became upset as she shared how the other young police officers who were called to the scene were “fearful running in”.

“Whilst I was the person that faced Joel, those young officers ran in with the same intentions,” she said.

Tears filled her eyes as she spoke of their bravery.

“I just want to acknowledge their courage and bravery and some of them …(are) unable to return (to work).

“They have my wholehearted support, love and care, and I hope that the public does understand that they were absolutely extraordinary – they saved lives that day.”

Inspector Amy Scott was called as a witness on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

She also acknowledged the paramedics, first responders and civilians.

“You had young 20-year-old shop keepers dealing with a crisis, adults turning to them saying ‘What do we do?’” she said.

She said while we “unfortunately lost the lives of beautiful people” that day, the actions of civilians and first responders had “restored faith in humanity and the goodness in people”.

“His back was to me, it was very evident that he was the person by the size of the knife he was holding.”

She yelled out stop, however he ran.

Upon first seeing the knife, Inspector Scott knew “it could cause some serious damage”.

She said she didn’t draw her firearm right away as the centre was busy and she “didn’t want to hurt anybody else”.

Instead she had it holstered as she chased Cauchi with the safety clip undone, holding it in place as she ran.
As she turned towards the air bridge, Cauchi “paused as if he was going to stab some shopkeepers”.
“He sort of looked back at me and then kept running,” Inspector Scott said.
She said she thought, “As long as I’m chasing this guy, hopefully he’s not going to do any damage”.

After proceeding another 10m, he stopped.

Chief Inspector Andrew Marks gave evidence in court on Monday. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

‘People are dying’

Civilians told Inspector Scott there was a “guy in there with a knife” and said “you’ve got to help us, please get in there”.

Inspector Scott said she was told “people are dying” and that “multiple people were screaming at me saying ‘there’s a guy, there’s people like getting stabbed, there’s a man with a knife in there’” in a police interview following the attack.

Initially planning to meet other officers before heading into the centre, she knew she “just had to go in” after hearing from those rushing out of the centre.

“It changed my response immediately. I considered it to be an active armed offender, I also knew that I couldn’t wait anymore for my colleagues to arrive and I just had to go in,” she said.

“It was my intention to try and find the threat.”

Originally published as ‘Let’s go catch him’: Bollard men Silas Despreaux and Damien Guerot knew they needed to stop killer Joel Cauchi ‘even if it meant hurting him’