Lindt siege inquest: NSW top cops Andrew Scipione, Cath Burn and Jeff Loy to finally front probe

TOP cop Cath Burn finally made it into the witness box yesterday and explained how the text messages she sent during the Lindt siege disappeared.

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DEPUTY Police Commissioner Cath Burn came out fighting for her job and reputation yesterday as she ­defended deleting all her text messages during the Lindt Cafe siege.

The state’s top female cop was combative as she vehemently denied giving any ­advice on the stalled negotiations with terrorist Man Monis in a 10.51pm phone call with police commander ­Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins.

“I completely reject that,” Ms Burn said.

In her statement to the ­inquest, Ms Burn said that in relation to the management of the deadly December 2014 Lindt Cafe siege: “I did not give orders, guidance, advice or direction.”

Deputy Commissioner Cath Burn arrives at the Sydney Lindt Cafe siege inquest. Picture: James Croucher

The head of the counter-terrorism command, she controversially left the country’s first terrorist siege at 10pm as Man Monis — armed with a shotgun and claiming to have a bomb in his backpack — was threatening the lives of hostages.

Yesterday she said she had been told to go home by her boss, Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, who also left.

Yet she chose not to answer a question about where she went.

“I was not on duty at the time (of the 10.51pm call).”

“You were at home, right?” said counsel assisting the ­inquest, Jeremy Gormly SC.

Ms Burn did not answer that question.

The inquest heard her role during the siege was as adviser to the Crisis Policy Committee headed by NSW Premier Mike Baird and to brief Mr Scipione.

She also gave two media conferences at 3.30pm and 6.30pm on December 15.

Another was scheduled for 6am when she was due back on duty but at 2.13am police stormed the cafe after Monis shot dead cafe manager Tori Johnson.

Barrister Katrina Dawson was fatally wounded by fragments of police bullets.

The only two text messages Ms Burn said she could recall during and after the siege were made by her at 2.44am as she returned to the siege and at 3.28am to Mr Jenkins, both of which she had noted in a chronology prepared on January 6, 2015. Both texts have also since been deleted.

Another was recalled by acting Deputy Commissioner Jeff Loy (pictured below right) and referred to the police emergency action plan to storm the cafe.

But Ms Burn said she could not recall whether any of the other missing messages were about the EA or the direct action plan, which was never approved by Mr Jenkins and other commanders, to take Monis by surprise.

She said she would ordinarily delete texts.

Neither the police nor the telcos used by them have been able to retrieve the texts.

“To my knowledge and recollection none of the texts I had were texts I thought I needed to keep,” she said.

She said they were probably along the lines of asking people to call her or alerting them to a briefing.

Cath Burn, Deputy Commissioner of NSW Police Force.

NSW State Coroner Michael Barnes is examining the roles of Ms Burn, Mr Scipione and Mr Loy during the siege.

Mr Jenkins, who took over strategic management of the siege at about 9.30pm on ­December 15, has given ­evidence that Ms Burn called him at 10.51pm.

She told the inquest that she called after being contacted by a journalist who wanted to know “something particular” about Monis, whose name was being officially withheld.

Notes made by a scribe working with Mr Jenkins that night stated that discussions were had relating to the negotiations strategy.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Jeff Loy.

Katrina Dawson died from police bullet fragments.

Tori Johnson was shot dead by Man Monis during the siege.

“If the flag strategy is not working then look at allowing the media to release the identity of Monis,” the notes said.

At the time, Monis had ­demanded an Islamic State flag be left on the doorstep of the cafe and he would release a hostage.

Police would not give him an IS flag in case he used it as a backdrop for killing hostages.

Mr Gormly put it to Ms Burn that the language and tone of those notes made it seem more likely that the comments were made by her and not Mr Jenkins.

“I completely reject that,” she said.

“I did not make any suggestion about the negotiation strategy.”

Negotiators had still never spoken directly to Monis, only through the hostages.

NSW Coroner Michael Barnes is overseeing the inquest.

Mr Gormly said that as a senior officer, she would have the right, even under the protocol, to make a suggestion which may have moved negotiations on.

“If there was a need to provide advice or guidance absolutely, but in these circumstances there is a very real need to keep the operational level at the operational level and not to intervene at all,” Ms Burn said.

“So your evidence is that you did not suggest to Mr Jenkins the changing of negotiation strategy to allow the media to release the identity of Monis because (the) other strategy was not working?” Mr Gormly said.

Man Haron Monis was killed by police.

“I did not suggest that. As far as I understand, (Jenkins) confirmed that, it was part of the strategy to keep it out of the media,” Ms Burn said.

Earlier yesterday it emerged Mr Scipione emailed Mr Jenkins and officers to take down a YouTube video posted by one of the hostages saying “the police were doing nothing”.

The video was posted by hostage Marcia Mikhael at the directions of Monis.

The commissioner sent the email without knowing the consequences on the hostages and events inside the cafe of removing the video.

Ms Burn will continue her evidence today.

And Mr Scipione is expected to give evidence to the ­inquest tomorrow.

DELETING MESSAGES WAS POOR PRACTICE

COMMENT Janet Fife-Yeomans

IT doesn’t sound much.

But, they were sent and ­received by Deputy Commissioner Cath Burn during and after the country’s first terrorist siege.

As the second most senior officer in the state, she would have been well aware that the siege was more than likely to become a critical investigation.

The homicide squad boss Mick Willing had early on quarantined officers from the siege management so they could investigate the police ­actions independently.

The armed officers of the Tactical Operations Unit — who stormed the cafe — had to give up their guns as evidence.

Other officers gave up notes and logs. Yet somehow Ms Burn did not save the text messages. Yesterday she said she regularly deleted all her text messages and had “no idea” how many she had deleted from December 15 and 16, 2014, as a madman held hostages at gunpoint.

It appears they were deleted within weeks because a chronology she prepared on January 6, 2015, mentioned just two SMS messages, both also since deleted. It has not been ­revealed what all these text messages said or who they were sent to but it is enough that the families of the slain hostages want to see them — and they cannot be found.

Ms Burn said they were probably of the ilk of “call me” or alerting officers to the time of a briefing. Others came from members of the public who presumably had her mobile number passing on messages of support for the police. But she doesn’t recall, she said.

She has changed handsets a number of times since the siege but the texts have disappeared even from her old handset, which has been retrieved.

They may not turn out to be very illuminating but that has been overshadowed by the questions of why were they ­deleted? And why have they not been able to be found?

Perception is everything and the deletion of texts after such a monumental police operation has raised questions in the mind of the public which need to be answered.