Photographer accused of stealing Bondi attack victim’s camera, police allege

Police allege a 35-year-old photographer hired for the Bondi Beach Chanukah by the Sea celebration stole camera equipment belonging to Peter Meagher in the chaos after the attack that killed 15 people on December 14, 2025. Investigators say the equipment was later pawned for $800, adding another layer of harm to a day already defined by loss.

Meagher, 61, was a retired NSW Police detective sergeant and photographer who had been attending and documenting the event when the shooting unfolded. His widow, Virginia Meagher, made a public plea in March for information about the missing camera, hoping to recover a personal and professional item tied to her husband’s final hours at the beach.

NSW Police arrested the accused on Wednesday morning after raiding a home in Marayong, in Sydney’s west. Officers seized a camera, handcuffs and electronic devices during the search. Police allege the theft happened in the immediate aftermath of the attack, when the Bondi shoreline was still reeling from the violence and the scale of the emergency response was still unfolding.

The man was granted bail and is due to appear before Blacktown Local Court next month. His arrest comes as the criminal case linked to the Bondi Beach shooting continues to widen. The alleged gunman, Naveed Akram, has separately been charged with murder and terrorism-related offences.

The alleged theft has resonated because it touches the private grief left behind after mass violence, where families are often forced to navigate not only the death of a loved one but also the disappearance of the possessions that carried meaning, memory and evidence of a life interrupted. In Meagher’s case, the missing camera became part of that burden. Police now say they have linked the device to a pawn transaction and recovered items during the Marayong search, as they continue examining how the alleged theft intersected with the disorder surrounding the Bondi attack.