‘Stuff of nightmares’: Families of those killed in Westfield Bondi Junction attack speak of ‘bone deep, soul crushing agony’

A “bone deep, soul crushing agony” follows the families of those killed in the Westfield Bondi Junction attack “like a shadow”, with an inquest told learning their loved ones had died was “the stuff of nightmares”.

Dawn Singleton, Yixuan Cheng, Faraz Ahmed Tahir, Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Pikria Darchia were all killed by Joel Cauchi during a stabbing rampage at the shopping centre in Sydney’s east on April 13, 2024.

A five-week coronial inquest into the deadly attack probed the care of Cauchi, a schizophrenic man who was unmedicated and “floridly psychotic” by the day of the attack, as well as the responses of emergency services and the centre’s operator.

Boxes of tissues were placed throughout the court and media rooms on Thursday before heart-wrenching statements of the anger and anguish of the victims’ families were read.

Ms Young’s mother, Elizabeth Young, entered the witness box with Jade’s father, brother, husband, and dog on Thursday morning.

“I hurt so terribly that our lovely, loving, clever, compassionate, thoughtful, slightly goofy, funny, gentle girl no longer has the chance to be … to exist in the now and future,” Ms Young told the court.

She said learning of her daughter’s death was the “stuff of nightmares”.

“On a lovely autumn afternoon, to learn your daughter is dead … was living, breathing, just an hour ago … is the stuff of nightmares, the stuff of a parallel universe,” Ms Young said.

Ms Young, an architect, grew up in the Wollongong area. She had two children, one of whom she was shopping with on the day of the attack.

“Casually and randomly, brutally, deliberately, an unmedicated, unmonitored schizophrenic thrust that blade so deeply into our girl that she died without knowing what was happening, that she was dying amidst the bright lights and bustle of Westfield Bondi Junction,” Ms Young told the court.

Jade’s husband was also at the shopping centre and was threatened by Cauchi at one stage: he warned other shoppers Cauchi had a knife before he rushed to his wife and child.

Their child had called him after Ms Young was stabbed.

The child was “so aware” of what unfolded she once drew a map of the shopping centre for her grandmother in blue crayon “to show exactly where mummy fell”.

“Pause … Pause and think on that,” Ms Young told the court on Thursday.

The last time the mother interacted with her daughter was the morning of April 13, 2024, when she received a heart emoji reaction to a photo she had sent her of a fairy ring of mushrooms.

“My absolute last connection with her, an emoji … ordinary interactions between a mother and daughter,” Ms Young told the court.

“And then a little over a week later I was leaning over her body here.”

She said she had “lost (her) way in life” following the death of her daughter: she flinches at people shouting in the street, startles easily, and can no longer listen to music or have flowers at home.

She dreads Saturday afternoons, as that is when the tragedy unfolded.

By the time she recovers from them “it’s 15.33pm on Saturday again”.

“I am angry and aggrieved and anguished for what I have lost and for what it cost Jade … She has been denied a future,” Ms Young told the court.

She said there was no “comforting closure” or way to make amends for Cauchi’s actions, and references to individuals who were “doing their best in fallible systems” gave her little comfort.

“I’m sorry, but it seems to me that my daughter and five others were killed by the cumulative failures of numbers of people within a whole series of fallible systems,” she said.

She earlier told the court the tragedy served as “another cry out to an Australia that doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge that what happened on that Saturday is essentially the catastrophic consequence of years of neglect of, and within, our mental health systems, state and federal”.

“As this inquest concludes, I, like Shakespeare’s Macbeth, am left looking into the future of ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow’, lines which I believe are the bleakest lines in literature,” Ms Young said.

She aired her frustration with the media reporting of the tragedy, including images of her daughter’s “lifeless body being worked on” broadcast, including by way of social media.

“To think images of a grieving family or a woman dying, lying dead, are newsworthy sickens me, makes me fear that our current world has lost sight of decency. What does it say about our society?” she said.

Faraz Tahir’s family ‘immensely proud’

Photos of Mr Tahir were played through the court as his brother, Muzafar Ahmad Tahir, delivered his victim impact statement.

He described his brother as humble, brave, compassionate, loving, and caring.

“He was very brave and fearless since childhood. Faraz is a very kind, loving and caring person. He was always supportive and caring to everyone around him,” Mr Tahir told the court.

He said Mr Tahir was “truly happy” in Australia, and that he had dreams “for his life, for his family, for a better tomorrow”.

Memories keep him alive in the hearts of his family, the court was told.

“The way he left us is something we cannot come to terms with. His absence has left a void that no joy or celebration can ever fill,” Mr Tahir said.

“This wound will remain with us for the rest of our lives.”

He said his brother died “with honour as a hero”.

“My brother Faraz Tahir squeezed his life for Australia’s land. He did not care about his life, and saved many peoples’ lives by sacrificing his life,” he said.

“He gave his life while saving humanity, protecting the people of Australia, and running towards danger instead of away from it.

“His courage makes us immensely proud.

“To us, and to many others, he will always be remembered as a symbol of bravery, a hero whose story we will pass onto future generations.”

He extended his condolences to the families of all those who lost their loved ones, including Cauchi’s parents.

“We recognise their loss, they raised their son and have lost him and we know that this tragedy is not their fault,” he said.

Mr Tahir was working his very first shift at Westfield Bondi Junction when he was killed.

He had five siblings and grew up in Pakistan before he moved to Sri Lanka in 2018 before moving to Australia in 2022.

He moved to Adelaide and Brisbane before settling on Sydney.

Mr Tahir had a video call with all his siblings the day before he died — his brother, Muzafar Tahir, said in a statement that Mr Tahir was “excited because he was wearing a uniform”.

The court was earlier told Mr Faraz and his colleague, Muhammad Taha, had “moved towards the crowd to assess the situation and determine if there was any threat” that would need to be reported to the control room as the tragedy unfolded.

Mr Tahir had turned towards his colleague after he was stabbed by Cauchi, giving Mr Taha “a moment to brace himself”.

“Faraz demonstrated immense bravery and courage, sacrificing his life to protect others,” the court was told.

‘Soul crushing agony’ follows family ‘like a shadow’

Ms Cheng’s parents said the emotions they felt when learning of their daughter’s death were indescribable.

It took them four days to travel from China to be with her, a statement read on their behalf by their lawyer said.

Her parents described their grief as “piercing, bone deep, soul-crushing agony that is beyond description that follows you like a shadow”.

“We now miss our child every day, every night, every moment — we miss her terribly,” the statement said.

“She was the treasure of our lives.

“The pain of losing a daughter is immeasurable.”

They said their “minds feel blank” since the loss and they “aged overnight”.

“Only after losing our daughter did we truly understand that life and death are two sides of the same coin,” the statement read.

“Goodbye can turn into farewell forever.”

While they never had the chance to tell her “being her mother and father were the greatest gifts life gave us”, Ms Cheng comforted her mother in a dream, telling her “Mum, it doesn’t hurt, not at all”.

They said their daughter was “so happy” studying in Australia, and was “on the brink of beginning the most brilliant chapter of her life”.

Ms Cheng was an only child from Bozhou, China. She was passionate about piano, taekwondo and dance, the family’s earlier statement to investigators said.

She studied economics at the University of New South Wales and returned to China due to the pandemic before she came back to NSW in 2023 after she was accepted into a masters of economics at the University of Sydney.

Ms Cheng called her mother on the day of the fatal attack to tell her she was going shopping at Westfield Bondi Junction.

About 6pm that evening Ms Cheng’s boyfriend called her mother and told her about the incident, and that he couldn’t get in touch with Ms Cheng.

CCTV showed Ms Cheng walking through the centre on her phone, “oblivious that what had been occurring in front of her”.

She was stabbed by Cauchi and later died.

‘Her love had no limits’

Ms Darchia’s sons, George Darchia and Irakli Dvali, said their mother was kind, observant, strong and irreplaceable.

“She was not just a victim, she was an artist. She painted landscapes, often inspired by Australian nature,” a statement read on behalf of Mr Darchia said.

“She was quiet but full of depth.”

Mr Darchia’s mother dreamt of he and his brother living with her in Sydney, and he now lived “with the pain of that choice”.

If he had moved, or insisted she stay in her hometown of Georgia, “maybe I could have helped her avoid going to Westfield Bondi Junction on that fateful day”, his statement read.

“This thought lives in me every day – it’s not guilty in a logical way,” he said.

The loss of his mother “shattered (his) world”, but he hopes he will one day be able to heal.

“I want to end my words not only with sorrow but with hope. Hope that we learn from this,” he said.

Appearing over a video link, he wiped away tears at the conclusion of his statement.

Mr Dvali’s statement spoke of a woman who “can never be replaced”.

“She wasn’t just my parent, she was my anchor, my protector, my motivator,” Mr Dvali’s statement said.

“She led our family with unshakeable strength, always looking out for everyone before herself.

“Her love had no limits – even when I make things difficult, even when I pushed her away, she never turned her back on me.”

He said his mother seemed “truly happy” in Sydney, which brought him bittersweet peace.

“But the way she left this world, it breaks me,” his statement read.

“It was so sudden, so violent, so opposite of the peace she deserved.

“I still look for her in moments, I still expect her voice, I still fill her love in everything.

“It’s hard to breathe sometimes knowing she’s not with me.”

Mr Dvali said he wished he told her how much she meant to him, and he tried to “keep going because she would want me to continue”.

“My life has changed in a way I can’t explain: I am lost in my life without her, but I live for her,” his statement said.

“Sometimes I just don’t know how to keep going.

“Her absence is a shadow I carry everywhere … I hope she is watching, and I hope she is at peace with my father knowing how deeply she is loved.”

Ms Darchia’s best friend, Tamara Shilia told the court she would “always” be her best friend.

Ms Shilia said she was “truly one of a kind” and was full of talent, beauty and grace.

“Pikria wasn’t just someone in my life, she was part of our daily existence — she was family,” Ms Shilia said.

She called for more to be done to support and address those with mental health conditions in society, including access to mental health services, as the tragedy was carried out by “someone who was clearly struggling”.

She said the system “failed” to intervene in time.

Ms Shilia’s earlier statement to investigators revealed her friend was studying at a prestigious art academy, undertook English courses, and enjoyed yoga.

She had met her friends for lunch on April 13 before heading to the shopping centre, where she was stabbed by Cauchi.

Entire court affected by statements

Ms O’Sullivan said Thursday’s proceedings had “affected everyone”.

“You’ll see there’s tissues on every table. It has been profoundly moving to hear about the loved ones,” Ms O’Sullivan told the court.

“I found it profoundly moving, I’ll never forget what I heard today.”

She assured the victims’ families their loved ones “would not be lost in this process”, as findings and recommendations would be made that would hopefully “improve systems and prevent deaths”.

Ms Good, a former osteopath who had moved into a corporate role as executive years prior, was pushing her daughter in a pram when she was stabbed.

“After Mr Cauchi attacked Ms Good it caused her to stumble away from the pram,” counsel assisting the coroner Peggy Dwyer SC told the court.

In a “tremendous act”, Ms Good was able to “save her child’s life”.

The NSW police officer who led the investigation into the fatal attack, Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Marks, later said Ms Good should be awarded a posthumous bravery award for saving her child.

Ms Singleton was stabbed while she was waiting in line at the Sourdough Bakery.

“The first and youngest victim who was killed by Mr Cuachi was Ms Dawn Singleton. She was only 25 years old, and a much loved daughter, sister and fiance,” Ms Dwyer told the court.

Bystanders rushed to Ms Singleton after she was stabbed and “exposed themselves to danger” to stay with her, even after hearing gunshots.

A man who came out of the nearby Country Road had wielded a chair and told those with Ms Singleton “I’ll fight (Cauchi) off if he comes back”.

Coverage caused ‘immeasurable pain’ma

Families of the victims specifically requested the media response, and the impact this had on them, be probed during the course of the inquest after reporting “significant distress” at the showing of graphic footage.

Ms Singleton’s mother, Julie Singleton, and fiance, Ashley Wildey, both reported they were upset to find Ms Singleton had been identified in media reports before they were allowed to formally identify her.

“I had not seen her … I was still hoping at this point there had been some kind of horrible mistake,” Ms Singleton’s victim impact statement read.

Ms Singleton hadn’t yet told her daughter’s friends, one of whom found out from a media report while she was waiting for Ms Singleton to pick her up for an event.

Ms Singleton also said she found reporters requesting comment, including by leaving notes in her mailbox, “intrusive”, and some of the footage played left her “distraught”.

Mr Wildey said the reporting of the attack caused “immense and immeasurable pain” to his and Ms Singleton’s families.

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