More than a year before Joel Cauchi killed 6 people in a stabbing rampage at Bondi Junction Westfield, his father confiscated his collection of hunting knives over concerns around deteriorating mental health. Today the inquest heard about Cauchi’s multiple interactions with Queensland police in the years leading up to the attack, including a domestic violence incident in 2023.
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00:00Week 2 of this five-week long coronial inquest is focusing on Queensland Police's interactions
00:09with Joel Couchy in the years leading up to the Bondi Junction Westfield stabbing attack
00:14where Couchy killed six people and injured ten others in April last year.
00:20Now, today a Queensland Police officer has given evidence to the inquest
00:25speaking about an incident in January of 2023 where he was called to Couchy's family home
00:32where Joel Couchy had actually reported his own father for taking away his collection of knives.
00:38Now, the inquest heard the father had taken those knives away
00:42because he had become increasingly concerned with the decline in his own son's mental health
00:48and that was due to the fact that his son had stopped taking schizophrenia medication for at least five years
00:54and he became concerned because his son was awake at around 3am in the morning
00:59banging on doors and complaining about his knives going missing.
01:04We heard in the inquest today that Joel Couchy had called police himself to report his own father
01:10and when they came to speak to him police officers say he was behaving somewhat calm
01:15and didn't seem to be too erratic but they said they were somewhat concerned with his fixation on those knives.
01:21He said there was some sort of physical altercation between Couchy and his father
01:26but after learning that the parents were happy for him to stay there that night
01:31and that they just wanted him to get some help
01:33they left that situation and had made that referral to a mental health service
01:38to make sure that they checked up on Couchy in the future.
01:41Now, we heard today from the inquest that that was never followed up on
01:45and for some reason that email never got to the mental health service.
01:49We also heard before that incident in January 2023
01:53Couchy had been pulled over at least three times in late 2022
01:58and early 2021 for erratic driving
02:01and there was another incident as well where police were called to a unit in Brisbane
02:06where Couchy was heard screaming and banging on a door.
02:11It's understood that he was slamming a fridge door shut at the time.
02:15Now, the officer who attended that family home in January 2023 says he was not aware
02:21of any of those incidents when he arrived at the scene
02:24but he says he did have on file that Couchy had a weapons licence
02:29which did cause him some concern at the time.
02:32We're due to hear more evidence from Queensland police as the day goes on
02:36and into this week.
02:38He was also asked about whether there was any missed opportunities
02:41to address Joel Couchy's mental health.
02:43The Queensland police officer whose name cannot be revealed for legal reasons
02:47says he believes there was a missed opportunity
02:50if his email to that mental health service had been referred
02:53and Joel Couchy was followed up on.