Lindt Cafe siege inquest: NSW deputy police commissioner Cath Burn in the witness box
POLICE Commissioner Andrew Scipione is set to be grilled today about a text message he sent to his deputy, writing “see you bright and early” in the final hours of the Lindt cafe siege.
NSW
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POLICE Commissioner Andrew Scipione signed off a text message to his deputy Cath Burn with a cheery “see you bright and early” on the night of the Lindt cafe siege.
The bombshell revelation was made public yesterday at the inquest into the 2014 siege, in which two hostages were killed along with terrorist Man Monis.
It was contained in a text message that was discovered on Monday night halfway through counter-terrorism chief Cath Burn’s testimony. It also revealed the state’s top cops realised they were ill-equipped at the height of the siege.
A third damning revelation was a note written by Ms Burn before a media conference about whether the police would allow third parties — including the Grand Mufti of Australia and Monis’ lawyers — to try to talk him out of the cafe and end the siege peacefully.
“Lives in the balance. We don’t put their lives in the hands of amateurs,” she wrote.
In his text to Ms Burn sent after they had both signed off duty about 10pm on the night of the siege on December 15, Mr Scipione discussed a bid for funding for new equipment the while terrified hostages were still held at gunpoint by Monis.
Mr Scipione told Ms Burn he wanted advice on “any new electronic imaging or audio equipment that we may need”.
“I will need this in order to make sure we are appropriately prepared for the future. I’m happy to talk in the morning. See you bright and early, Andrew.”
Hours later the siege ended at 2.13am on December 16 when the police stormed the cafe after Monis shot dead cafe manager Tori Johnson and barrister Katrina Dawson was killed by police bullet fragments.
Ms Burn said she deleted all the SMS messages she sent and received during and after the siege. This one only came to light because she emailed it to herself at 10.37pm on December 15.
Counsel assisting the commission Jeremy Gormly SC was scathing about why this email containing the text message had only just emerged when all her emails were supposedly tendered to the inquest some weeks ago.
Ms Burn said she could not recall this one until seeing it yesterday morning in the witness box.
Cross-examined yesterday by Phillip Boulten SC, counsel for Ms Dawson’s family, Ms Burn said no one had raised with her during the siege the lack of vision from inside the cafe or the “substandard” footage from the cameras set up around the cafe by police experts.
Nor had anyone told her the negotiators, which also come under her command, only had one landline or that the Tactical Operations Unit had problems with radios not working and a lack of batteries.
She never visited the forward command post during the siege.
Ms Burn said yesterday she was not aware of the issues contained in Mr Scipione’s SMS, which referred to NSW Police being ill-equipped to handle such terror situations.
Mr Boulten quizzed her about the alleged lack of police resources, including having to share radios.
He revealed how they had to use “buddy comms”, referring to “buddy communications” as they shared radios because some of them weren’t working. “You know what that is?” Mr Boulten asked her.
“Can you explain?” she replied.
“It’s someone standing next to someone and telling them what’s happening on the radio.”
Ms Burn said: “No, that was not brought to my attention.”
Mr Bolton: “So when the Police Commissioner sent you this message, you had no idea what he was talking about?”
Ms Burn: “No, I didn’t know at the time.”
Mr Boulten said: “Did you make any inquiries of your commanders to see if things were operating properly?” Ms Burn replied: “No. Again, that is not my role.”
The discovery of the SMS opens up a whole new line of questioning for Mr Scipione about police resources when he takes his turn in the witness box later today.
He is also likely to be questioned about an email he sent at 11.59pm on December 15 to the commander in charge of the siege telling him to take down a YouTube video posted by hostage Marcia Mikhael on the orders of Monis in which she said “the police were doing nothing”.
He has told the inquest through his lawyer that he “did not give any order, direction or provide any guidance or advice in relation to the conduct of the siege on that day”.
POLICE TO LOOK AT HANDLING OF CRISIS
EXCLUSIVE Mark Morri
NSW Police will conduct their own inquiry into the Lindt cafe siege to examine exactly how they performed during those two fateful days in the lead-up to Christmas 2014.
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione announced the investigation in Police Monthly, an internal magazine available only to serving police officers.
The task of looking into all aspects of how the police handled the siege has fallen to Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Cotter.
“The NSW Police Force can confirm it has established a working party to ensure police can best respond to any future terrorist or hostage event,” a spokesman for NSW Police said yesterday.
“It is conducting an analysis of procedure, policies, resources, training and other relevant matters.”
NSW Police said the investigation did not clash with the inquest being conducted by NSW Coroner Michael Barnes.
Following Assistant Commissioner Cath Burn’s evidence this week, Mr Scipione is scheduled to appear before the inquest today to answer questions about his role — or lack of it — during the siege on December 15 and 16, 2014.
“It (the police investigation) is being run in conjunction with the inquest and has the full support of the Coroner,” the spokesman told The Daily Telegraph.
The working party for the internal inquiry was formed about a month ago and is expected to prepare a report for the Police Commissioner as soon as possible.
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