The elderly parents of Westfield Bondi Junction mass murderer Joel Cauchi place no blame on anyone except their son – as harrowing new details were revealed at an inquest.
Andrew and Michele Cauchi, both in their 70s, emerged from his childhood home on Tuesday and were devastated to learn that their son’s psychologist broke down in tears as she gave evidence in the NSW Coroner’s Court.
Joel Cauchi, 40, was experiencing psychotic symptoms when he fatally stabbed five shoppers and a security guard and injured 10 others at the busy Westfield in Sydney’s east in April 2024.
On Tuesday, the Queensland psychiatrist who took Cauchi off his medication years before his stabbing rampage, issued a tearful apology to the families of the victims and Cauchi’s parents.
But his parents stressed that there was only one person who needed to apologise.
‘My son let us down,’ Mr Cauchi told Daily Mail Australia at his Toowoomba home on Tuesday.
‘The mental health did not let us down, the police did not let us down. The only person to let us down was my son.
His wife added: ‘It’s too much, It’s just a horrible tragedy.’
Andrew Cauchi (right) was devastated to learn that his son’s psychologist broke down in tears as she gave evidence at the Westfield Bondi Junction inquest
Joel Cauchi, 40, was experiencing psychotic symptoms when he fatally stabbed five shoppers and a security guard at Westfield Bondi Junction in April 2024
Shortly after her son came off his medication, Ms Cauchi had raised concerns several times with the Toowoomba clinic about him hearing voices and writing notes that he was ‘under satanic control.’
A referral letter was sent to Cauchi’s GP, but no follow-up was organised with mental health services in the city.
Despite raising the alarm, Cauchi’s parents refuse to lay any blame.
‘No one has let us down, if someone sends an email and it’s not worked on, so what,’ Mr Cauchi said.
‘My son was pretty good until he did this and he would not have gone back on medication anyway and I couldn’t put him back on either.’
His wife added: ‘He was sick.
‘He was out of his head and then Covid hit and he moved to Brisbane so we couldn’t supervise him.’
The pair recently told Daily Mail Australia they wouldn’t travel interstate to attend the inquest in Sydney because it would be too emotional and bring back painful memories.
Cauchi’s parents Andrew (pictured, left) and Michele (pictured, right) don’t lay blame on the psychologist who took him off medication
Those killed were shoppers Yixuan Cheng, 27, Ashlee Good, 38, Pakria Darchia, 55, Jade Young, 47, Dawn Singleton, 25, and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30
‘I won’t be going (to the inquest) because I’d be crying all the time,’ Mr Cauchi said. ‘I’d be bawling. I loved my son.’
Cauchi grew up in Toowoomba and was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 17.
He was a ‘high-functioning’ schizophrenic with a university degree, coming top in his class, and could speak German and Mandarin, his mother later told police.
He lived at home with his parents until he was 35, before moving to Brisbane in early 2020 shortly before the .
Cauchi entered the local Bondi shopping centre just after 3pm on Saturday April, 13, 2024 armed with a large knife and began prowling through the complex.
He terrorised crowds of shoppers enjoying a day out, stabbing at least 16, including a nine-month-old baby, and killing six.His rampage was brought to an end after he was shot dead by NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott.
Cauchi’s parents saying they have ‘no issues’ with her actions or that of the NSW Police.
It was the elderly couple who identified the killer as their son after watching it unfold on the news.
‘The police did a fantastic job,’ Mr Cauchi said.
He was eventually shot dead by a female cop, with Cauchi’s parents saying they have ‘no issues’ with her action or that of the NSW Police.
Cauchi entered Westfield Bondi Junction just after 3pm on Saturday April, 13, 2024 armed with a large knife
Earlier at the inquest on Tuesday, the psychologist sobbed as she told the inquest she had been personally affected by the attacks.
‘I offer my sincere apologies to you that this tragedy has happened,’ she said.
‘I am aware that no words will ease the profound pain and suffering.’
‘No psychiatrist in the world would wish on themselves for this trauma to happen,’ she said.
The psychiatrist’s decision to take Cauchi off two medications by June 2019 followed his complaints about the drugs’ side effects.
Two nurses have already given evidence about Cauchi’s treatment, and both have said he did not present with any serious symptoms during appointments.
The inquest continues.
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