A Sydney tradie who worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the alleged Bondi Beach gunman has revealed details about Naveed Akram’s disturbing behaviour.

Bricklayer Rishy supervised Akram for almost a year on the construction of the Crows Nest Metro station on Sydney's north shore and said they regularly had breakfast together.

He revealed Akram was a strange, quiet loner - with no real friends or social life - until one day when he suddenly erupted on the construction site and turned on a coworker.

Rishy believes he was the nearest Akram, 24, had to a real friend, and was stunned when images appeared of him allegedly opening fire on the Bondi Hanukkah festival.

Sixteen people died in the massacre, including Akram's gunman father Sajid, 50, with dozens more injured. Akram has now been charged with 15 murders among 59 charges.

Rishy is still struggling to take it all in, and revealed the eerie prediction his fellow tradies on the worksite made at the time.

'We talked about it,' he told the Daily Mail. 

'We had conversations about how Nav would be one of those guys you read about.'

Naveed Akram (pictured) was a withdrawn worker having no real friends or social life

Bricklayer Rishy was Akram's supervisor on a contract at the Crows Nest Metro Station

Naveed Akram's workmate claims he portrayed strange and isolating behaviour

Rishy said Akram told coworkers about his gun licence and said 'he was really proud of it'.

'That keeps me awake at night now,' he said. 

'Then one day when they were putting up scaffolding, one of the guys said something about God. I don't know exactly what was said but it wasn't good and Nav just lost it.

'He took heart and he just snapped at the guy yelling that you should never speak about a god like that.

'Everyone was shocked because the guy never really spoke.

'But just as quickly as he exploded, he calmed down as if nothing had even happened.'

Rishy remembers Akram initially being completely unremarkable. He was punctual, took pride in his work and largely kept to himself. 

He never spoke about his family, never mentioned weekend plans and rarely joined in casual conversations on site.

Akram spoke with a noticeable stutter and refused to eat

The cafe in North Sydney where the pair went for breakfast every morning 

But as the months went on, Rishy said Akram began speaking with a noticeable stutter, refused to eat and would shut down completely whenever the crew discussed their dating lives.

'When I first met Nav in 2022 he was a pretty quiet kid, really polite - I remember thinking that kid is so respectful and has real manners,' Rishy said.