Police officer stabbed by Numan Haider sues AFP, ASIO, accusing them of information failure
A HERO policeman attacked by radicalised teen Numan Haider has launched legal action against federal police and ASIO for failing to properly warn him about how dangerous the terrorist was.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A HERO policeman attacked by radicalised teen Numan Haider has launched unprecedented legal action against federal police and ASIO for failing to properly warn him about how dangerous the terrorist was.
REVIEW CALLS FOR ‘GET-TOUGH’ ATTITUDE ON TERROR
INQUEST FINDING INTO THE DEATH OF RADICALISED TEENAGER NUMAN HAIDER
EDITORIAL: GETTING AHEAD OF THE THREAT
The policeman, who can only be referred to as Officer A, has this week launched Supreme Court proceedings.
Officer A has claimed the agencies’ failed to provide him with all relevant information before he was involved in the deadly meeting with Haider at Endeavour Hills on September 23, 2014.
On the night of the bloodthirsty attack by Haider, the heroic officer overcame his injuries to save his colleague’s life by shooting the terrorist dead with a single shot to the head.
Legal papers were served on the agencies this week and a writ has been filed with the Supreme Court. But a request by the Herald Sun to view the file involving the action was denied by the court on Wednesday.
The sealed file is understood to list a string of failures by the Australian Federal Police and ASIO, Australia’s spy agency. It is understood the officer was seriously injured after being attacked by Haider.
Haider was called to a meeting with police who knew he had no criminal record, was young and had previously co-operated with police so decided on a soft approach in their dealings with him.
But the meeting went disastrously wrong when the 18-year-old produced a knife and stabbed both male officers, injuring officer A and almost killing officer B before officer A was able to get to his feet and shoot him dead.
Haider was shot once in his head as he launched the frenzied stabbing attack on the two counter-terrorism officers given the task of talking to him.
ASIO had been monitoring Haider’s telephone conversations because of his threats to the Prime Minister, an inquest later found.
But police missed a crucial call in which he threatened to kill an police officer.
The officers involved in his death were cleared of all wrong doing by Coroner John Olle who found they had no choice but to shoot him dead.
He 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.
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.
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, Mr Olle found.
The cancellations of his passport the day before, a fatwa by the Islamic State to attack Australians and response to highly publicised counter-terrorism raids might have culminated in his decision to carry out the attack.
It is understood the officer at the centre of the legal proceedings will claim he was underprepared for his meeting with Haider because ASIO had not passed on critical information about him.
ASIO had information including a photograph of him from his Facebook page showing him posing with a black shahada flag, used by Islamic State.