Police close gaps that left troubled killer untreated
Miklos Bolza |
Police have already made improvements after an “oversight” prevented a mentally ill man being offered treatment before a deadly mass stabbing attack.
Joel Cauchi, 40, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen after hallucinating pigs coming out of his teacher.
He was experiencing psychotic symptoms when he killed six people and injured 10 others at Sydney’s Westfield Bondi Junction in April 2024.
An inquest has been told Queensland Police had a number of chances that could have been used to plug him back into mental health treatment and medication before the tragedy.
Cauchi was homeless and living apart from his family in Toowoomba, near Brisbane, when he was shot dead by police during his stabbing rampage.
He had stopped taking his medication in 2019 and ceased seeing a psychiatrist in 2020.
In January 2023, Cauchi called police to his family’s home in Toowoomba wanting to charge his father with theft for “stealing” his knives.
Attending officers Senior Constable Matthew McDonnell and Senior Constable Hope Porter noted Cauchi was “fixated” on the knives and irrationally claimed he would become bankrupt and homeless without them.
As the inquest continued on Tuesday, Inspector Bernard Quinlan, manager of the Queensland Police’s vulnerable persons unit, was asked about an email Sen Const McDonnell sent to the mental health incident co-ordinator seeking a follow-up.
That email was seen but forgotten about after the overworked fill-in officer, Senior Constable Peter McDiarmid, was distracted by other duties.
On Tuesday, the permanent co-ordinator Sergeant Tracy Morris backed her replacement despite his mistake.
“His oversight on that email is devastating,” she said, becoming emotional in the witness box.
“It’s not indicative of him as an officer or how he performed my role.”
Insp Quinlan said changes had already been made to police systems – including alerts popping up for messages which had not been actioned – to ensure this did not happen again.
He supported the actions of Sen Const McDonnell and Sen Const Porter, but admitted in hindsight they could have exercised emergency police powers to force Cauchi into treatment.
The inquest has heard numerous calls for positive change within the police force including increased staff numbers and better resources.
Laws regarding when mentally ill people could be forced to take an involuntary psychiatric examination could be amended to become less confusing, the court has been told.
Insp Quinlan said these changes were needed to prevent the criminalisation of those with mental illness.
“Mental health shouldn’t just be a police response,” he told the NSW Coroners Court.
“It’s a no-brainer to me that there should be appropriate responses that are health-led.”
Counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC said changing legislation around police powers was “shaping up to be a significant recommendation” at the inquest.
On Monday, the court was told in May 2021, police were called to Cauchi’s unit in Brisbane after residents heard a man screaming and the sound of someone being hit.
He told attending officers he had been slamming his fridge.
Cauchi was also pulled over three times in 2020 and 2021 by highway patrol police for erratic driving, the court was told.
In July 2022, he was also flagged with police by making repeated phone calls to a girls high school in Brisbane requesting to watch sporting events such as swimming carnivals, netball and gymnastics.
The inquest continues Wednesday.
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