Inquest finding into the death of radicalised teen Numan Haider
UPDATE: A missed phone call in which Numan Haider boasted he would have stabbed police officers was the only piece of information that may have stopped a fatal meeting with detectives.
Law & Order
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A MISSED phone call in which a radicalised youth boasted he would have stabbed police officers if he had a knife was the only piece of information that may have stopped a fatal meeting with detectives.
While ASIO had been monitoring Ahmad Numan Haider’s conversations because of his threats to the Primer Minister, the call was listed as unanswered and not transcribed before he was shot and killed by police.
Haider was shot once in his head as he launched a frenzied stabbing attack on two counter-terrorism officers given the task of talking to him. The meeting with Haider, the stabbing and the fatal shooting took just 53 seconds.
Coroner John Olle found that police had no choice but to use lethal force when the 18-year-old pulled out a knife in the dimly lit Endeavour Hills police station carpark in September 2014.
Officer A, who had been stabbed, shot the teen as Haider straddled over Officer B, plunging a knife into his stomach.
Mr Olle said non-fatal tactical options would not have stopped Haider potentially killing Officer B.
But Mr Olle said the missing phone call would have likely changed the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team’s “softly approach” or cancelled the meeting altogether.
Haider made the comment following a confrontation with police at Dandenong Plaza a week before his September 23 meeting with detectives from the JCTT. He told his friend “if I have a knife, I would’ve stabbed them”.
Mr Olle found in the days before his death, Haider was in a mind to carry out an attack but his choice was an opportunistic response to the detectives’ approach.
“Numan engaged in a course of conduct that involved radicalisation and behaviour that was increasingly dangerous, ultimately causing his death,” Mr Olle found.
Haider’s family had submitted the teen had “snapped” due to having his passport cancelled the day before the meeting, and other pressures.
But Mr Olle said significant factors like the Islamic State issuing a Fatwa to attack Australians days before, his cancelled passport and response to highly publicised counter-terrorism raids might have culminated in his decision to carry out the attack.
Mr Olle said Haider’s decision to attack could not have been foreseen by counter-terrorism officers and issued no adverse findings against them or their bosses involved in the interaction with Haider.
He said the “safety-first approach” of Officer A was beyond reproach.
“Officers A and B were the unwitting victims of Numan’s opportunistic conduct and I praise both their courage and dedication,” he said.
Haider had become estranged from his family and was spending an “inordinate amount of time” with a new cadre of friends who reinforced his religious beliefs. He had also been attending an extremist hotspot — the Al Furqan Islamic Information Centre.
jamesdowling2@news.com.au
KEY FINDINGS
• Haider was radicalised in the months before his death and his behaviour became increasingly dangerous
• In the days before his death, he was likely planning to commit a terrorist attack
• But his attack on police was opportunistic
• Non-fatal tactical options available to Officer A would not have stopped Haider killing his partner, Officer B
• No adverse findings against any of the officers involved in the incident
• Haider’s passport was cancelled because it was likely he wanted to become a foreign fighter
• A telephone recording, not found until after his death, shows Haider boasting to his mate, if he had a knife, he would have stabbed police officers who confronted him in the days before his death
• The whole meeting, stabbing and shooting took just 53 seconds