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As the nation reeled in the days following its deadliest terrorist attack and family and friends grieved the people they lost, a man was allegedly pawning a camera he stole from one of the victims for $800.
Danny James Ridley, 35, will face court next month after being charged with stealing camera equipment belonging to Peter Meagher, who was photographing the Chanukah by the Sea event at Bondi Beach on December 14.
Meagher, 61, a retired police officer and photographer, was among 15 people killed when the father-son gunmen opened fire on the celebration.
Amid a critical incident investigation into the police response, detectives learned Meagher “had his camera equipment stolen in the aftermath of the attack”.
Ridley was arrested during a raid on a home at Marayong in Sydney’s west on Wednesday morning.
“Police will allege the man was a photographer at the Hanukkah event who stole the deceased 61-year-old’s camera equipment before pawning it days later,” police said in a statement on Thursday morning.
Ridley told The New York Times he had hidden behind a parking meter as he was shot at, suffering a gash to his left rib.
“It was just carnage,” he said.
At the Marayong property, a camera, handcuffs and electronic devices were seized. Officers also allegedly found a white crystal powder and further electronics in a car.
Among the electronic devices seized from the home was the since-recovered camera’s SD card, on which Meagher captured his last photographs, police allege.
Ridley was taken to Riverstone police station where he was charged with larceny between $2000 and $5000, disposing of stolen property, furnishing false information to a licensee, possessing or using a prohibited weapon without a permit, and possessing and supplying drugs.
He was granted conditional bail to face Blacktown Local Court on June 22.
The alleged larceny value refers to the value of the camera equipment, not the amount it was sold for.
After 35 years of service with NSW Police, retiring as a detective sergeant in 2021, Meagher had been enjoying his other passion, photography, when he was killed.
Meagher’s wife Virginia had worked at a school run by the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad, which organised the festival at Archer Park, and many of their friends were in attendance.
“As he left at 4.15pm that Sunday, I said, ‘Give them my love,’” Virginia said at Meagher’s funeral in January. “And all our lives are forever changed.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, then-Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, Governor-General Sam Mostyn and NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon were among attendees at Meagher’s funeral, one of many held in the days and weeks following the deadly attack.
Meagher was also a passionate volunteer, and considered “Randwick rugby royalty,” according to former Wallaby Morgan Turinui.
“But you wouldn’t have known it. He was very quiet and unassuming; he just got work done, there was never any fuss,” Turinui said of Meagher in April, when his nickname “Marzo” was spelled out on Coogee Oval for the first game of the Shute Shield season in tribute.
Jack Gramenz is a breaking news reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
Sarah McPhee is the Overnight Homepage Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.From our partners
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