The move was a win for several media outlets – News Corp, Nine newspapers, the Guardian and the ABC – who opposed the orders in court.
Judge Donnelly said the accused terrorist’s mother had also sat down for an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald soon after the tragic mass shooting.
A 10-year-old girl was among 15 people killed when Akram and his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14.
“This case has unprecedented public interest, outrage, anger and grief,” Judge Donnelly said on Thursday.
His mother and siblings had been subjected to threats and harassment by vigilantes, the judge noted.
This included death threats in person, by phone and online chat, strangers arriving at their home late at night, pork thrown in their front yard and a bottle full of suspected urine placed at their home.
“(His mother) fears for her life and the lives of her children,” the judge said.
However, he said any order would be futile given that the names and addresses were well and truly in the public domain.
“This case is exceptional by virtue of the sheer magnitude and commentary on social media,” he said.
Any suppression order would only apply within Australia, with the court unable to force overseas publishers to comply.
There was also no need to suppress the workplaces and school of Akram’s family, as there was no evidence that threats had occurred there, the judge found.
The accused terrorist had also failed to put forward psychiatric or psychological evidence showing his family was at risk of mental harm, he noted.
He had sought to have his family’s details suppressed for 40 years throughout the nation.
The 24-year-old remained silent during Thursday’s decision as he watched on from Goulburn’s supermax prison.
His barrister Richard Wilson SC flagged he will not appeal the judge’s decision.
Akram has not yet been required to plead to dozens of charges, including terrorism offences and multiple counts of murder.
His case will return to court on April 8.
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