This article synthesizes two separate incidents: an acid attack in Plymouth resulting in a fatality and an inquest into the Bondi Junction stabbings in Sydney.

Plymouth Acid Attack: A 38-year-old man, Danny Cahalane, died in a Plymouth hospital following an acid attack at a property on Lipson Road. Police were called to the scene around 3:55 am on February 21st. Nine individuals have been charged in connection with the incident. Mr. Cahalane's family issued a tribute, remembering him as an outstanding father and son, well-loved by family and friends.

Bondi Junction Stabbing Inquest: An inquest in Sydney is examining the stabbing of six people at Westfield in Bondi Junction in April 2024 by Joel Cauchi, who had schizophrenia. Cauchi killed Ashlee Good, Jade Young, Yixuan Cheng, Pikria Darchia, Dawn Singleton, and Faraz Tahir and injured 10 others before being shot and killed by police inspector Amy Scott.

The inquest revealed that more than a year prior to the stabbings, Cauchi called the police to his parents' home in Toowoomba, Queensland, to complain that his father had taken away his knives due to concerns about his mental health. Body-worn camera footage showed a police officer noting Cauchi's mother's desire for him to receive help. An email requesting a follow-up from a police mental health team was allegedly "lost," and no follow-up occurred.

Officers who responded to the January 2023 call-out stated that Cauchi appeared "fixated on those knives". At that time, Cauchi had not been on his medication for schizophrenia for five years. The officer was alerted to the fact that Cauchi had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was a weapons holder. He also noted that Cauchi seemed reasonable at the time.

The court also heard that Cauchi’s parents had planned to return the knives when his mental health improved. The next day, Cauchi bought a new knife. The officer who attended the call-out emailed the mental health incident coordinator, requesting a follow-up, but the email was reportedly “lost”. Six weeks later, Cauchi made another criminal complaint about his father stealing his knives, but the initial officer was unaware of this incident until after the Bondi Junction stabbings.

The officer also stated that the volume of mental health-related call-outs has increased and expressed support for reversing the change that prevents police from detaining someone under the Mental Health Act if they are a threat to others. However, he did not believe Cauchi met the criteria for detention at the time of the call-out.