Lawyer reluctantly comes forward after being filmed distracting a man wielding a knife during Tuesday’s rampage

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A Sydney lawyer who was filmed using a cafe chair to distract and try to contain the man accused of a stabbing rampage in Sydney’s CBD says he had “no option” but to act.

The 20-year-old man arrested over the rampage, in which one woman was killed and another stabbed, remains in hospital under guard and police don’t expect to lay charges until Saturday.

The New South Wales government has launched a review of the accused’s treatment by health services.

John Bamford, 64, told Seven’s Sunrise program he was getting lunch on Tuesday when he saw a man emerge from the side of a building “and I think he had the knife raised”.

“I just grabbed the chair and, you know, went after him basically as best I could,” the lawyer said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lawyer John Bamford, 64, appeared on Sunrise to discuss his action’s on Tuesday. Photograph: Sunrise Chanel 7

“I had to get rid of my papers that I had taken for lunch to read so I had to drop them on my cafe, but the guy knows me there so I didn’t worry about that.”

Michaela Dunn identified as woman who died in Sydney stabbing attack Read more

He said the man armed with a knife claimed to have a bomb.

“He said he had a bomb in his bag, but the zip was undone, it didn’t look like he had a bomb to me,” he said.

Bamford said he had no option but to act and the reaction to his bravery was “a bit overegged”.

“What am I gonna do, go home and say I was there and I could have done something and backed away from it? I mean there was just, there was no option,” Bamford said.

Other members of the public used a milk crate to pin down the man accused of carrying out the attack.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A Sydney mural by artist Scott Marsh pays tribute to members of the public who used ordinary objects such as a milk crate to subdue a knife-wielding man. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Bamford was reluctant to come forward and speak about the incident but said he was trying to get ahead of “what was going to eventuate” with people hounding him.

Mert Ney is accused of killing 24-year-old Michaela Dunn in a Clarence Street apartment before allegedly stabbing 41-year-old Linda Bo at the Hotel CBD.

Ney’s family reported him missing following a domestic dispute last week. It’s understood he sought medical treatment around that time.

The NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, and the mental health minister, Bronnie Taylor, described the circumstances as “tragic” and have ordered a review.

“As with any critical incident, NSW Health will be reviewing all aspects of the care and treatment of the alleged perpetrator,” they said in a joint statement.

Family of Sydney CBD stabbing accused apologises 'a million times' to victims Read more

The outcomes of the review will be provided to the ministers once complete.

Police believe Ney attended the Clarence Street unit to see Dunn, who was a sex worker. She was later found with a slashed neck and pronounced dead at the scene.

On Wednesday Dunn’s mother told Nine News her daughter was a “beautiful, loving woman who had studied at university and travelled widely”, while her friend Joan Westenberg told Guardian Australia she was “an incredible person. In every single way.”

It’s understood Bo, who Ney allegedly stabbed in the shoulder, was released from hospital on Wednesday night.

Investigators are still trying to piece together why Ney – who had a history of mental illness – allegedly launched the attack.

He was allegedly carrying a USB stick with information about recent mass casualties in New Zealand and the United States, and could be heard on video footage shouting “Allahu akbar”.

But police have not classed the attack as a terrorist incident and have not identified any links to terrorist organisations. A relative yesterday said neither he nor his family were religious.

The NSW police commissioner, Mick Fuller, described the men who helped detain Ney as “the highest order of heroes”. “They saved lives,” he said.