Student wrongly named as Bondi killer sues Seven Network
A 20-year-old university student who was wrongly named as the Bondi Junction killer has made moves to sue the Seven Network for defamation.
As the terrifying rampage at the eastern suburbs Westfield unfolded on Saturday which resulted in the deaths of six people, Ben Cohen was named by the Seven Network as the knife-wielding man.
Mr Cohen’s name was wrongly linked to the attack by Sunrise co-host Matt Shirvington shortly after 6am on Sunday and again by journalist Lucy McLeod just 10 minutes later.
It wasn't until hours later that Seven identified the right man, Joel Cauchi, as the killer as journalist Sarah Jane Bell issued an on-air apology to Mr Cohen during the evening news bulletin.
“Earlier this morning, reports of the incident incorrectly named the perpetrator as 40-year-old Benjamin Cohen,” she said on air.
“It was later confirmed that the name of the 40-year-old is Joel Cauchi from Queensland. Seven apologises for any distress caused by our earlier reports.”
Mr Cohen is still reeling from the incident, saying he has been targeted by online trolls on social media ever since he was wrongly named by the network.
His name was one of the most trending topics on X in Australia the day of the mass stabbing, with many people quick to point out Mr Cohen's Jewish identity, claiming the stabbings were an act of violence in support of the war in Israel against Palestine.
The university student has taken the first steps in launching legal action against the network, engaging with two of Australia’s foremost defamation lawyers in Patrick George of Giles George as his solicitor, and Sue Chrysanthou SC as barrister.
Mr George confirmed he had sent a concerns notice to Seven, the first step in defamation proceedings.
“We await a response from Seven,” Mr George told NCA NewsWire.
Mr Cohen told news.com.au earlier this week that he had been inundated with friend requests and messages on social media after being named by Seven, with the unwanted attention taking a toll on his mental health.
“It’s just gone crazy, it’s like ‘look, you’ve got the wrong guy’,” Mr Cohen, a first year computer science student, told news.com.au.
“People don’t really think too hard about what they’re posting and how it might affect someone. It’s very dangerous how people could just make stuff up and destroy people’s lives.”
Image credits: news.com.au