A “floridly psychotic” man who fatally stabbed six people in a shopping centre could have obtained a firearm years before, a coroner has heard.

Joel Cauchi had been forgotten by the mental health system when he armed himself with a 30-centimetre long knife and rampaged through Sydney’s Bondi Junction Westfield on Saturday afternoon on April 13, 2024.

Six people were killed and 10 others were injured before the 40-year-old was shot dead by police.

As an inquest into the events commenced on Monday, counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC said Cauchi had visited a Brisbane GP in January 2021 for a report to get a gun licence.

He claimed he was interested in firing a pistol at a local gun range but did not want to purchase a firearm.

In that single consultation, the doctor found Cauchi was a “fit and proper” person and recommended that Queensland police grant the licence, Dwyer said.

While the force sent over a “statement of eligibility”, no further steps to get a proper licence were sent.

“That is very, very fortunate,” Dwyer told the court.

Earlier, she described the 40-year-old’s web browsing history before the attack as “distressing”.

“Mr Cauchi was preoccupied with weapons, with violence and with mass killing,” she told the NSW Coroners Court.

This interest in death and murder included searches for serial killers and mass killings both in Australia and overseas, including the Columbine High School shooting in 1999.

Notes on his phone included references to planning a strike at a mall while armed with a knife, the court was told.

The searches showed a man who was seriously unwell and who was far from his parents in Queensland, who had previously kept a rein on their son’s behaviour, Dwyer said.

She added that expert psychiatric evidence would show Cauchi was “floridly psychotic” when walking through the Westfield.

As the five-week inquest continues, coroner Teresa O’Sullivan will examine Cauchi’s background, including how police interacted with him during his largely transient lifestyle.

She will also look for any potential missteps in his mental health treatment after he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

The response to the tragedy by security guards and the media will also be probed.

O’Sullivan will then make findings at a later date about what happened and can suggest recommendations aimed at preventing similar events.

Dawn Singleton, 25, Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Pikria Darchia, 55, Yixuan Cheng, 27 and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, died in the attacks.

A memorial established at Bondi Junction ahead of the mass killing’s anniversary earlier in April contained photographs and floral tributes to those who had died.

-AAP

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