Syrian-born Bondi Beach hero who disarmed gunman charged with domestic violence
A man who tackled a gunman during last December's devastating Bondi Beach massacre is now facing criminal charges relating to alleged domestic violence.
According to Australian media reports, Ahmed al Ahmed, 44, stands accused of assaulting his father during an incident in March this year.
Prosecutors have brought charges of common assault under domestic violence legislation, alongside allegations of stalking and intimidation.
He was widely celebrated for his bravery during the Hanukkah event attack, which claimed 15 lives and left 40 wounded in a terrorist incident targeting the Jewish community.
Video footage captured during the mass shooting showed Ahmed grappling with one of the suspected attackers to seize their weapon.
Ahmed, a shop owner living in Sydney but born and raised in Syria, tackled gunman Sajid Akram, 50, and sustained multiple gunshot wounds during his intervention.
At the time he said: "My target was just to take the gun from him and to stop him from killing a human being's life and not killing innocent people."
Sajid was shot dead by police, while his son Naveed, the other alleged gunman who was hospitalised after the attack, has since been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist attack.
Ahmed said in December: "Emotionally, I'm doing something, which is I feel something, a power in my body, my brain.
"I don't want to see people killed in front of me, I don't want to see blood, I don't want to hear his gun, I don't want to see people screaming and begging, asking for help.
"That's my soul asking me to do that."
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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited him during his recovery, describing Ahmed as "the best of our country", while New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called him a "real-life hero".
Public support saw a crowdfunding campaign generate more than $2.5million (£1.24million).
The Bondi Beach atrocity marked Australia's most deadly mass shooting since 1996.
Ahmed has firmly rejected the fresh accusations against him, stating to broadcaster ABC they are "not true at all".
The matter will proceed through the courts, with Ahmed scheduled to face Sydney's Bankstown Local Court on June 29.
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