Bondi mall killer's psychiatrist to return for grilling

A former psychiatrist of the Bondi Junction shopping centre attacker will step into the witness box for a second day of heated testimony.

Joel Cauchi, 40, armed himself with a knife when he fatally stabbed six shoppers at Sydney's Westfield Bondi Junction and injured 10 others in April 2024.

The Queensland psychiatrist who treated Cauchi for eight years has already faced a day of questioning as a coronial inquest into the incident continues.

On Wednesday, she will return for a grilling by lawyers of those who died during the attacks.

The doctor - who cannot be legally identified - denied that she made any mistakes during her care for Cauchi despite opting to cease his antipsychotics by mid-2019.

Counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC suggested that the Toowoomba psychiatry clinic had done the right thing by Cauchi, by scheduling regular appointments and reacting quickly when his mother had raised concerns.

However she faced repeated denials when the psychiatrist was asked about failures in his treatment.

She told the court that symptoms such as insomnia, excessive OCD and an obsession with pornography were not signs Cauchi's schizophrenia symptoms had returned after stopping medication.

"We were sure that it wasn't a psychotic break," the psychiatrist told the court.

"I don't think it was a mistake."

She will have to return to give evidence in person for a second day after a bid to return to Toowoomba to testify via audiovisual link was denied.

Cauchi had been diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen and had been successfully treated for more than two decades.

However his relocation to Brisbane meant he fell through the cracks of the mental health system.

He eventually became homeless living in Sydney before he launched his deadly attack, which ended when he was shot dead by police.

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