Lindt siege: Should police have stormed Martin Place cafe earlier?
CHILLING footage of the Martin Place gunman laying dead inside the Lindt Cafe was aired at the inquest into the siege today.
CHILLING footage of the Martin Place gunman laying dead inside the Lindt Cafe was aired at the inquest into the siege today.
The bloodied body of Man Haron Monis could clearly be seen through the doorway of the cafe as a robot bomb detector entered to check his corpse for explosives.
Moments before CCTV camera footage captured the series of “flash bangs” and shots fired as the police stormed into the cafe to end the siege.
The inquest today also saw chilling footage showing six of the hostages escaping into Martin Place from the cafe at 2.03am on December 16.
A flash of light shows a shot fired by gunman Man Monis which hit a glass panel above the door through which the hostages had escaped.
Counsel assisting the inquest Sophie Callan said it had previously been said that had been a warning shot but now it was believed that Monis had been firing at the hostages but was a poor shot.
Commanders in charge of the siege will be quizzed about whether they should have stormed the cafe as soon as Man Monis fired his weapon instead of waiting 10 minutes during which Tori Johnson was executed.
The trigger for going into the cafe had been set as the death or serious injury to a hostage but Ms Callan said questions would be asked as to whether something less should have been set as the trigger point.
It has been revealed that the commanders of the state’s Tactical Operations Unit twice suggested considering activating the Deliberate Action Plan — to storm the cafe on their own terms — the evening before but it had been decided to continue with the policy of “contain and negotiate”.
Police logs noted at 2.04am that: “POI (person of interest) fired in air, shattered glass.”
However after speaking to the hostages who escaped, a log entry at 2.10am noted Monis had fired deliberately to hit them.
The inquest heard that at 2.06am, the cafe manager Tori Johnson was seen to be forced to kneel on the floor and Monis put the shotgun at his head.
As well as three snipers with views into the cafe, an audio surveillance device had been secretly fitted the night before so police could hear what was going on inside the cafe.
At 2.11am Monis fired a second shot in the direction of the kitchen.
Ms Callan said it was not known the reason for this but the heavily-armed TOU officers who had been on standby for hours moved towards the two entrances to the cafe.
Shortly after, Monis was heard reloading his shotgun.
Just 33 seconds later, another hostage, Fiona Ma, ran out of the main doors after pressing the green release button.
At 2.12am, Monis was heard saying: “You will be alright, everyone, you will be fine.”
But less than a minute later, he shot Mr Johnson in the head and the manager fell to the floor.
The sniper, codenamed Sierra 2, who was in the Channel 7 offices opposite the cafe, broadcast: “Sierra 2. White window 2. Hostage down.”
At that stage, the Emergency Action Plan swung into action and TOU officers stormed the cafe despite still believing Monis had a bomb which may kill them all, Mr Callan said.
The bomb was a hoax, a speaker with wires hanging out.
The footage played at the inquest shows two TOU officers, named Officer A and Officer B, going into the cafe as the main doors were shattered. They went in behind another officer holding a ballistics shield.
Monis was shot dead and barrister Katrina Dawson was killed by a bullet fragment.
Ms Callan said during this final segment of the inquest, expected to last two months, questions would be asked of the relevant police commanders and the TOU commanders as to whether the emergency trigger should have been set at less than death or serious injury of a hostage.
She said this was because 10 minutes passed between Monis first firing his gun and Mr Johnson being shot.
She said the questioning would focus both on the events that night and police policies while there was evidence that as the siege continued, consideration was given “from time to time” about whether they should change tactics.
The inquest continues.
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