‘Wrong guy’ reaction
Man falsely identified as Bondi killer engages lawyers
The man who was wrongly named as the Bondi Junction attacker has taken the first step in launching legal proceedings against Channel 7.
Benjamin Cohen, who was incorrectly identified as the knife attacker by Seven on Sunday, has engaged two of Australia’s foremost defamation lawyers – Patrick George of Giles George as his solicitor, and Sue Chrysanthou SC as barrister.
Mr Cohen, a university student, was wrongly named on Sunday morning by Weekend Sunrise as the knife-wielding
murderer who attacked and killed six people at Bondi Junction Shopping Centre.
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 10 minutes later.
Queensland man Joel Cauchi, 40, has since been identified as the man in an Australian Kangaroos jersey who went on a murderous rampage through the popular Sydney Eastern Suburbs shopping centre on Saturday afternoon.
Hours after Seven wrongly named Mr Cohen, NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley confirmed that Cauchi was the attacker who was shot dead by hero police officer Amy Scott.
Mr George confirmed that 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.
Seven issued an on-air apology to Mr Cohen on Sunday, read by reporter Sarah Jane Bell during a cross.
“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.”
Online trolls on Saturday night wrongly identified Mr Cohen and his name began trending on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Mr Cohen told news.com.au earlier this week that he had been inundated with friend requests and messages on social media.
“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.”