Bondi Beach shooting hero pleads not guilty to alleged assault on father

Posted on by Taiwo Adebulu

3 min readUpdated: Jun 24, 2026 02:16 PM IST

Ahmed al Ahmed, the man hailed as a hero for tackling one of the gunmen who killed 15 people in a terror attack at Bondi Beach in December last year, Wednesday pleaded not guilty to the charges of allegedly assaulting his father at a court hearing in Sydney, BBC reported.

He appeared in front of the Bankstown Local Court to respond to charges of assault, along with stalking and intimidation, following an incident in March.

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The Bondi Beach attack, on 14 December, 2025, was one of the deadliest mass shootings in Australia’s recent memory, with police declaring it a terrorist assault that targeted the Jewish community.

Ahmed sprang out from the back of a car, jumped on gunman Sajid Akram from behind, and wrestled a long-arm gun from him. However, he was shot several times in the arm by a second alleged gunman. A fundraiser, that managed to collect over $2.5 million, was started to fund his treatment as videos of Ahmed’s valiant effort spread across the world.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also visited Ahmed at the hospital days after the shooting, and called his bravery an inspiration for all Australians.

Charges ‘not true at all’: Bondi Beach shooting hero

Reacting to the charges of domestic violence, common assault, as well as stalking and intimidation, Ahmed told broadcaster ABC that they were “not true at all”.

ABC Australia reported that Mr Ahmed declined to comment after the court proceedings on Wednesday, where he pleaded not guilty to the allegations made against him.

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Defence lawyer Mohamad Sakr, addressing media outside court, said that, “It’s been very difficult”, however, his client has maintained his innocence.

Brothers attempt to extort donation money

Two of Ahmed’s brothers, Hozifa Al Ahmed and Sameh Al Ahmed, were also charged recently with allegations that they threatened him over call, and demanded $100,000 from his donations.

They were later granted conditional bail after being charged with using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend.

The case will be back in court in August, while a hearing is scheduled for December.

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