Lindt Cafe siege inquest: police chief emotional on third day in witness box

THE police commander under fire for not storming the Lindt Cafe until after Tori Johnson was killed has said he would do the same thing today.

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THE police commander under fire for not storming the Lindt Cafe until after Tori Johnson was killed has said he would do the same thing today.

“The buck stops with me,” the detective chief superintendent told the inquest into the deadly siege today, accepting the blame for the deaths of three people.

“Presented with the same facts as I knew at 2.03 to 2.13 that day, what I knew then, I would do what I did then today.”

A frame from slow-motion footage shows the final stages of the siege as police storm the scene.

On his third day in the witness box, the officer, who was the forward commander during the final hours of the siege, appeared close to breaking down.

“Every day I think of those three people lost their lives because of me. My decision,” the officer who cannot be named, said.

He was referring to Mr Johnson, who was shot dead by terrorist Man Monis, barrister Katrina Dawson, who died after being hit by fragments of police bullets, and Monis himself.

“I can’t change that,” he said.

Tori Johnson was killed by Lindt gunman Man Haron Monis.

Rosie Connellan, mother of Tori Johnson, stormed out of the inquiry yesterday. Picture: Britta Campion / The Australian.

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“Every day I think about this and wrack through my head what could I have done differently but I could never mitigate the risk of a bomb.”

The major reason he did not order police to storm the cafe after Monis fired his first shot at 2.03am as six hostages escaped was because he believed that Monis had a bomb.

The emergency plan was triggered by the death of Mr Johnson at 2.13am.

Tori Johnson seen at the window of the cafe during the day of the siege. Picture: Channel 7

NSW State Coroner Michael Barnes asked him if on that basis, on that night, he would never have ordered the Tactical Operations Unit officers to assault the cafe unless one of the hostages was killed.

“I accept that, your honour,” the officer said.

“I can’t change that.

“The outcome is not what I wanted.

Katrina Dawson also died during the shootout.

Gunman Man Haron Monis.

“Three people are dead as a result of this activity and I don’t know what I can change. The right people were with me on that night. The right people were providing me with information.”

He acknowledged there were gaps in the information flow including that it was not until a few weeks ago he knew that Monis had fired a second shot at 2.09am — four minutes before he executed Mr Johnson.

Mr Johnson’s mother, Rosie Connellan, is back in court today after storming out yesterday with her parting words for the officer: “You’re an absolute disgrace.”

Her outburst came after the officer said that Monis had rights the same as the hostages did and referred to the events as “high-stake games”.

He later “accepted that ‘game’ might not be the right word”.

The inquest continues.