Sydney siege inquest: police said they didn’t storm cafe because they didn’t want dead hostages

THE man in charge of the police response to the Sydney siege explains why they couldn’t “put a bullet between the eyes” of gunman Man Monis.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Fuller has been on the stand giving evidence in the Sydney Siege inquest. Picture: Adam Taylor

THE action of Lindt Café gunman Man Haron Monis in firing shots after five hostages escaped near the end of the Sydney siege was not enough justification for cops to move in and take him down, an inquest has heard.

Philip Boulton SC, the barrister acting for the family of victim Katrina Dawson, asked NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Fuller if police did the right thing not entering the cafe after Monis fired shots just after 2am on December 16, 2014.

“I don’t think [the decision to go in] would stand up to scrutiny, no,” Mr Fuller told the inquest on Wednesday morning.

Mr Fuller — who led the police response in the initial few hours of the siege — said it wasn’t clear if a shot fired at the hostages was intended to kill them, or fired as a “warning shot”.

He has been giving evidence over the past day about what could have triggered police to storm the cafe and why he adopted a “contain and negotiate” strategy rather than a deliberate action where police would enter the cafe without waiting for a hostage to be shot.

One of the considerations was if the situation became that of an “active shooter” — someone about to kill as many people as they could.

CCTV showing the moment the tactical operations unit storm the Lindt cafe in Martin Place killing Man Haron Monis.

Despite the shots being fired by Monis, and his previous threats to kill hostages if they tried to escape, Mr Fuller told the inquest he believed “more information” was required at that precise time to justify police entering the cafe.

“Based on all the information coming in we didn’t have the power to go in.”

In hindsight it was “so much easier to think we got that wrong, I accept that” but police at the time had to weigh up whether their actions would result in deaths of hostages.

The crisis was not like a “Hollywood movie” where the villain could be “shot between the eyes” and then the hostages could walk out safely.

Instead, he believed the hostages — “good people” — would have died.

“My fear was any action, deliberate action, would certainly have caused a loss of life and I’m not talking about the perpetrator.”

Mr Boulton asked Mr Fuller if the siege happened again and at the point Monis fired shots at 2.03am inside the cafe — 10 minutes before the shot that killed cafe manager Tori Johnson — what he would do.

He asked if police would “sit back” and wait for him to “take another shot”.

The assistant commissioner took issue with that, referring to it as an “unfair statement”.

He said he would be trying to “piece together a very difficult puzzle” and the situation was under constant review.

Hostages Harriette Denny, Julie Taylor and Viswakanth Ankireddy escape the Lindt Cafe. Photo: AP/ Rob Griffith

A report by UK experts into counter terrorism experts was put to Mr Fuller that said police should have gone into the cafe building after Monis first fired.

Mr Fuller rejected the report, saying community expectations in the UK and Europe were different than in Australia which required different responses.

“Strong action by police after a warning shot would likely cause someone’s death,” he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the inquest heard police considered using shotgun or a sledgehammer to break the bulletproof windows in the Lindt Cafe, which is a former bank, so snipers could shoot Monis.

Mr Fuller hadn’t been aware of the plan involving the sledgehammer.

“But the risk would not have been worthwhile.”

Mr Fuller is giving evidence to the inquest into the deaths of Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson as a result of the Lindt cafe siege in December 2014. He was the commander in charge in the initial few hours of the siege.

Gunman Monis was killed by police when they stormed the cafe in the early hours of December 16, after Monis shot cafe manager Mr Johnson.

Barrister Ms Dawson was killed by a fragment of a police bullet fired by one of the officers who rushed into the cafe to bring the 17-hour hostage crisis to an end.

The inquest continues.

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Originally published as Sydney siege inquest: police said they didn’t storm cafe because they didn’t want dead hostages