The man falsely accused by Channel 7 News as the perpetrator behind the Bondi Junction stabbing that left six people dead over the weekend, will pursue legal action against the network.
University student Benjamin Cohen sought representation by prominent barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC, who has previously counseled Heston Russell, Christian Porter and Lisa Wilkinson.
His solicitor is defamation lawyer Patrick George from Giles George law firm, who will also seek damages on his behalf.
“We have issued the concerns notice to Channel 7 today,” Mr George told ABC News.
An ABC investigation found the wrong identification initially occurred online on Saturday afternoon.
It was amplified by a number of accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter) in the hours that followed the attack over the weekend.
By 6:15am the next day, Channel 7 News had named Mr Cohen as the “40-year-old lone wolf attacker”.
A 7 News spokesperson told the ABC the “mistake was human error and it has been rectified” and that “Seven sincerely apologized for the error”.
NSW Police later identified the perpetrator as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, who was fatally shot by an officer inside Bondi Junction Westfield.
Cauchi recently came to Sydney from Queensland and authorities are profiling him as part of their investigation.
Mr Cohen previously told the ABC it was “extremely disappointing to see thousands of people mindlessly propagating misinformation without even the slightest thought put to fact-checking or real-life consequences”.
The network has 28 days to respond to the defamation claim.
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