Sydney man Benjamin Cohen wrongly named as Bondi Junction killer by Channel Seven seeks damages

The Sydney man Benjamin Cohen, who was wrongly named on air by Seven News as the Bondi Junction killer, has hired a lawyer and is seeking damages from the network.

The university student has engaged defamation lawyers and issued a concerns notice to Seven, his solicitor Patrick George of the law firm Giles/George has confirmed.

Early on Sunday morning Seven’s breakfast show Weekend Sunrise and its YouTube channel named Cohen as the perpetrator without confirmation from the police.

During a live cross from Bondi Junction to the studio, the Sunrise co-host Matt Shirvington said the killer was “40-year-old Benjamin Cohen, dressed in a Kangaroos ARL jersey”.

How the Westfield Bondi Junction stabbing unfolded – video report Several hours later New South Wales police named the man, now deceased, as Joel Cauchi, a 40-year-old from Queensland.

“It’s extremely disappointing to see thousands of people mindlessly propagating misinformation without even the slightest thought put to factchecking or real life consequences,” he said in a statement to Guardian Australia on the weekend.