Barrister Katrina Dawson was hit seven times by police bullet fragments
IT’S been revealed that slain hostage Katrina Dawson was hit seven times by police bullet fragments at the siege’s climax.
HOSTAGE Katrina Dawson could have been writhing on the floor of the Lindt Cafe after being struck by multiple fragments from police bullets as the Sydney siege came to its fatal conclusion, an inquest has heard.
The barrister was found lying face down under tables and chairs in a corner of the cafe after police stormed the Martin Place building to end the 2014 siege.
She had a pulse when she was discovered, but later died.
Ms Dawson was struck in the right shoulder, right upper back, left shoulder, left upper back and neck area, upper back and neck area, and twice in the right side of the neck.
It’s believed the wound to the right upper back was the fatal injury.
Ballistics expert Lucas van der Walt on Monday told the inquest into the siege a bullet from a police rifle fragmented as it travelled through a chair before hitting Ms Dawson in the rear right shoulder, causing several injuries.
A total of 55 grams of bullet fragments were recovered from her body.
Counsel assisting Ms Dawson’s family, Michael O’Connell SC, raised the prospect that more than one bullet contributed to Ms Dawson’s injuries, and that she may have moved in reaction to being struck.
“(If) the person were to sustain an injury to the left hand side, not a fatal injury but an injury that they felt, and they reacted to it, (they) can move their body. They might then sustain an injury to the right side, and they might sustain that injury in the right side, in a particular area because they’ve just moved their body in reaction to the first trauma,” Mr O’Connell said. “If you assume for a moment that more than one bullet is responsible for the injuries sustained by Katrina Dawson, then that’s clearly possible is it not?”
Mr van der Walt responded: “Say there is a four-second difference (between the first and the last bullet), then yes certainly there’s movement possible.”
Some of the wounds contained copper fragments, confirming they were sustained from rounds fired by Tactical Operations Unit (TOU) officers as the ammunition used by gunman Man Haron Monis did not contain copper.
The first two TOU members to enter the cafe — identified only as “Officer A” and “Officer B” — fired 22 rounds at Monis after he executed cafe manager Tori Johnson about 2.13am on December 16, 2014, more than 17 hours after the stand-off began.
Officer B was also wounded by bullet fragments, possibly from his own weapon, which Mr van der Walt said probably lodged in his cheek and leg after bouncing off a glass panel at the entrance to the cafe.
Mr van der Walt said he did not agree with the pathologist who conducted the post mortem on Monis that he was hit by between seven and nine whole rounds, instead telling the inquest four intact rounds hit the gunman.
The inquest continues.