An Iranian man hailed as a hero for disarming one of the alleged Bondi massacre gunmen is still facing imminent deportation due to his criminal record.
Footage of the December 14 atrocity showed the man running onto the footbridge where terrorist Sajid Akram and his son Naveed had been shot by police.
ISIS-inspired Sajid Akram had been killed but Naveed Akram was only wounded and allegedly still clutching a firearm which the man kicked away from him.
The man then backed away with his hands raised and shouted 'don't shoot' as police, who did not know how many gunmen were on the bridge, fired at him.
Video captured the man - who does not wish to be identified and whom we will call Bridge Hero, or 'BH' - being attacked by members of the public who mistook him for one of the shooters.
Fifteen innocent people were killed in the rampage, which ended when 50-year-old Sajid Akram was shot dead and his 24-year-old son was wounded and taken into custody.
BH was reportedly jailed and tortured in Iran after taking part in anti-government protests as a young man, and later fled the brutal regime for safety in Australia.
He has made a statement to NSW homicide squad detectives about what he saw and did during the Bondi massacre but is set to be thrown out of the country.
An Iranian man hailed as a hero for disarming one of the alleged Bondi massacre gunmen is still facing imminent deportation due to his criminal record. The man (circled) is pictured after the shooting
Footage of the December 14 atrocity showed the Iranian man running onto the footbridge where terrorist Sajid Akram and his son Naveed (above) had been shot by police
Another man who showed extraordinary courage during the massacre, Israeli national Gefen Bitton, was almost immediately offered permanent Australian residency.
Mr Bitton had been attending the Hanukkah celebrations on the beach when the Akrams allegedly opened fire on Jewish men, women and children.
The 30-year-old ran to help tobacconist Ahmed Al Ahmed as he confronted Sajid Akram but was allegedly shot three times by Naveed Akram in the lower abdomen.
Mr Bitton, a garage door technician who had been working in Australia for three years on a temporary visa, was flown home to Israel for ongoing treatment.
Syrian-born Mr Al Ahmed, who famously pulled away the gun Sajid Akram was carrying before he was able to take up another firearm, was already an Australian citizen.
BH's problem is he has a criminal record, which his lawyer describes as 'minor' but he is also facing a drug supply charge laid just a day before the shootings.
BH, who lives in western Sydney with his pregnant Australian partner and two Australian children, had gone to Bondi the night before the massacre allegedly to deliver drugs.
He was stopped by police who allegedly found cocaine in BH's possession and after being charged with drug supply spent a night in the cells at Surry Hills.
The following day BH caught a taxi back to Bondi to pick up his car but told the driver to stop when they both heard gunfire while approaching Campbell Parade.
'I just felt I needed to go and help,' he told the Australian Financial Review.
BH said he made his way to the footbridge as he continued to hear gunfire and terrified civilians ran past him screaming.
Sheltering behind a car with another man, he saw Naveed Akram allegedly exchanging shots with Detective Senior Constable Cesar Barraza.
After Sajid Akram joined his son and while there was a lull in the shooting, BH took the chance to sprint to the stairs leading up to the bridge.
During another break in fire BH ran up the stairs and found Sajid Akram dead and Naveed Akram injured.
BH kicked a weapon away from Naveed Akram and came under fire, then put his hands behind his head and was ordered to the ground by police.
'Then someone came and started kicking me,' he said.
Syrian-born Mr Al Ahmed, who famously pulled away the gun Sajid Akram was carrying before he was able to take up another firearm, was an Australian citizen before his Bondi heroics
Israeli national Gefen Bitton (above in foreground) ran to help Ahmed Al Ahmed as he confronted Sajid Akram. Mr Bitton was offered permanent Australian residency
Once police realised BH was not one of the gunmen and he was allowed to leave the scene he walked among the dead and wounded and tried to render assistance.
Asked why he stormed the bridge, BH told the Australian Financial Review: 'It was my duty'.
'I just thought, "What if it was my family there?"'
'You see the fear and the danger and the sound of children and people running... we have to take care of our brothers and sisters and our children.'
BH, who is Muslim, aged in his 30s and came to Australia from Iran as a political refugee in 2012, has only ever held a temporary humanitarian visa.
His immigration lawyer, Alison Battison, said BH's life would be in danger if he returned to his homeland.
Ms Battison conceded BH had a 'minor' criminal history for offences including common assault and domestic violence, which had not resulted in physical injuries.
He was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence for assaulting his partner and later served three months in jail for stalking and intimidating her. Ms Battison said BH’s partner supported him.
BH's humanitarian visa was cancelled because he failed the federal government's character test and after becoming an unlawful non-citizen he spent time in immigration detention.
The Administrative Review Tribunal subsequently confirmed BH's refugee status and restored his visa before it was cancelled again.
He faces deportation to the Nauru Regional Processing Centre where the South Pacific island nation has agreed to take refugees and asylum seekers Australia will not accept.
Ms Battison told the Daily Mail the government was still 'actively moving' to have BH deported but she hoped her client's actions at Bondi would convince authorities he deserved to stay in Australia with his family.
'He's got an Australian partner and Australian children but he has no right to stay in Australia long-term to be with them,' she has previously said.
'It's open to public opinion as to whether somebody who put himself in significant danger to help the Australian community has earned a right to stay in Australia.'
The Daily Mail asked Home Affairs more than a month ago whether it still intended to deport BH but has received no update on his case.
After Mr Bitton's heroics at Bondi, his path to permanent residency was quickly cleared.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke visited Mr Bitton at St Vincent's Hospital, where the injured man spent more than a fortnight in a coma and underwent at least eight operations.
'Gefen is a hero,' Mr Burke said.
'Without a moment’s thought for his own safety, he ran to help Ahmed Al Ahmed.'
'I was advised by Rabbi Mendel Kastel that Gefen and his family wanted Gefen to become a permanent resident.'
'Of all the things he is now dealing with, at least this gives him one less challenge to worry about.'
'I told him Australia is a better place with him here, and he is welcome to continue to come here for the rest of his life.'
Mr Bitton had also been visited in St Vincent’s by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Two foreign bystanders who went to the aid of others at the April 2024 mass stabbing at Westfield Bondi Junction were granted permanent residency.
Frenchman Damien Guerot gained fame as 'Bollard Man' for fending off schizophrenic knifeman Joel Cauchi after the 40-year-old had killed six victims and injured 10 others.
Mr Guerot and his countryman Silas Despreaux accompanied the first police officer at the shopping centre, Inspector Amy Scott, as she hunted down Cauchi and shot him dead.
Pakistani security guard Muhammad Taha was wounded while trying to help his colleague Faraz Tahir, who was among those killed in the attack.
Mr Albanese repeatedly thanked Mr Guerot and Mr Taha for what they did at the time and welcomed them both as Australian residents.
'These are people who were putting... themselves in danger in order to protect Australians who they didn't know,' he said.'
'And that's the sort of courage that we want to say "thank you" to, frankly.'
Mr Despreaux was already eligible for citizenship.
Naveed Akram has been charged with 59 offences including 15 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder, and one of committing a terrorist act.