Bondi Junction killer missed out on mental health care because police lacked resources and were ‘overwhelmed’

Queensland mental health specialist reveals she couldn't find someone to cover her role while giving evidence at Sydney inquest this week

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A Queensland police officer has told a coronial inquest that a lack of resources explains why her colleague overlooked an email requesting mental health support for Joel Cauchi a year before he stabbed six people to death in Sydney's Bondi Junction.

The inquest on Monday heard from her colleague, Sen Const Peter McDiarmid, who was acting as the police force's only mental health officer for a district serving 220,000 residents when he received an email from another officer asking him to follow up with the Cauchi family. But the court heard he did not make contact.