Loved ones and dignitaries paid their respects on Sunday as the eastern suburbs community marked one year since horror unfolded inside Westfield.
Loved ones and dignitaries paid their respects on Sunday as the eastern suburbs community marked one year since horror unfolded inside Westfield.
By Sarah McPhee
April 13, 2025 — 1.04pm
It was the reunion everyone there wished they did not have to have.
Hero police Inspector Amy Scott, surviving security guard Muhammad Taha and the men who helped to save Ashlee Good’s baby were among hundreds gathered under a blue-sky day in Bondi Junction on Sunday to mark one year since the unimaginable stabbing attack unfolded inside Westfield.
Good, 38, Dawn Singleton, 25, Jade Young, 47, Cheng Yixuan, 27, Faraz Tahir, 30, and Pikria Darchia, 55, were killed on April 13, 2024, and more were injured, by mentally ill man Joel Cauchi, who was shot dead by Scott.
“Today’s pretty hard for me. I’d prefer to not be here, but I want to make her feel like I’m standing next to her and I hope that she’s looking at me and my brother from wherever she is with my Dad,” Darchia’s son Irakli Dvali told the Herald.
“I just miss her very much. Honestly, I’m not used to the fact, and I’m probably not going to get used to it.
“I’m thankful for my Mum. I’m thankful for her that we lived as long as we did together.”
Dvali, who looked up to the sky with his brother George before laying flowers in bursts of hot pink and white, said the day brought up questions the family hope are answered at an inquest into the tragedy later this month.
“So no one has to go through what we did and other victims’ families,” he said.
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Sheraz and Muzafar Tahir wore their brother’s Westfield security guard badges on their lapels, honouring the loss of Faraz on his first day shift in the shopping centre.
“You were too young, too gentle, and too kind to leave the earth so soon. May you be safe in heaven now,” one of their cards read. “You are alive in our heart now and will always remain alive,” said the other.
Good thrust her baby into the arms of strangers for help after they were both stabbed by Cauchi. Those men were among dozens to leave a floral tribute, along with Taha, who still carries signs of his injuries after he and Tahir were also set upon.
Tears streamed down the faces of onlookers in Oxford Street mall on Sunday as NSW Premier Chris Minns, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb, Governor-General Sam Mostyn, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, NSW Governor Margaret Beazley and other dignitaries paid their respects.
“I can only imagine what those families are going through one year on,” Minns told Nine’s Today show on Sunday morning.
“They’d be thinking about their loved ones, what they would have achieved over the last 12 months, and what lay ahead of them if they were still with us.”
He said the loss of six bright and hopeful lives made the day “so harrowing and difficult for the people involved”.
Webb said it had been one of the most horrific events in the country’s history.
“[It is] certainly a day that first responders, from wherever they came from, will never forget,” she said.
In a statement, Webb added: “Our hearts are with their families who continue to endure unimaginable grief and do their best to carry on.
“Hundreds of people, including police, paramedics, and civilians, were all first responders on this horrific day. They are heroes, risking their own lives in an effort to save victims and nurse the wounded during what can only be described as a senseless tragedy.”
Elliot Rusanow, chief executive of Westfield’s owner Scentre Group, recognised it was a time of “immense grief and sorrow” for those affected by the attack, including the families and loved ones of the victims.
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“It is impossible to fathom their loss,” he said.
Rusanow said counselling and mental health support was still being provided. Onsite chaplains were available to the crowd.
A mandatory inquest into the tragedy will begin on April 28. Issues to be examined include Cauchi’s mental health treatment, the shopping centre procedures and the media response.
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Sarah McPhee is a court reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via Twitter or email.
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