Answers for mall stabbing delayed 'out of respect'

Answers from the inquest into the deadly mass stabbing at a shopping mall will be handed down next year out of respect for the victims of a fresh massacre in the same area of Sydney.

NSW State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan presided over a five-week inquest earlier this year which probed the circumstances surrounding the deadly attack on April 13, 2024.

She heard Joel Cauchi, 40, had been experiencing psychotic symptoms and was armed with a knife when he killed six people and injured 10 others, including a nine-month-old baby.

Ms O'Sullivan intended to hand down her findings and make recommendations for change before the end of the year, but she decided to delay the delivery in deference to the victims of an even more recent massacre.

"After consulting with the families of the victims of the Westfield Bondi Junction tragedy, and out of respect for the victims of the devastating events at Bondi Beach … the Bondi Junction inquest findings will now be delivered on 5 February 2026," a statement from the coroner read.

"The state coroner extends her deepest condolences to all those impacted by these tragic events."

Fifteen people - including a 10-year-old girl - were killed when two gunmen opened fire on a crowd of people celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach on Sunday evening.

The gunmen - a father and son - were both shot by police but only the younger man survived. He remains under police guard in hospital.

It is the worst modern-day mass shooting since 35 people were killed in the infamous Port Arthur Massacre in 1996, and the deadliest anti-Semitic act in Australia's history.

It came less than two years after Cauchi stabbed more than a dozen people during a rampage at the Westfield shopping mall in Bondi Junction - the suburb next to the beach.

Dawn Singleton, 25, Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Pikria Darchia, 55, Yixuan Cheng, 27 and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, died before Cauchi was fatally shot by Inspector Amy Scott.

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