Jarrod Morton-Hoffman displayed incredible bravery and maturity during 2014 Sydney siege

HE has been hailed the quiet hero of the Lindt Cafe siege but this one moment shows Jarrod Morton-Hoffman’s scars run deep.

HE has been hailed the quiet hero of the Lindt Cafe siege.

But when Lindt Cafe worker and hostage Jarrod Morton-Hoffman finished giving evidence today at the inquest into the deaths arising at the siege, it was clear his scars run deep.

Mr Morton-Hoffman remained composed and spoke with remarkable conviction, strength and courage throughout the inquest.

He told how he helped hostages escape and executed tactics to communicate secret messages to police, including passing hand-drawn cards under doors and emphasising certain words during phone calls the gunman forced him to make.

Mr Morton-Hoffman also told the inquest how he escaped the cafe as gunman Man Haron Monis grew increasingly agitated and it became clear the hostages would “have to save (them)selves”.

He survived but the articulate young university student from east Sydney today indicated he was still battling with the memories of the ordeal.

Just one hour into his second day of giving evidence, Mr Morton-Hoffman this morning requested a “five minute” break and returned about half an hour later.

He continued on for the next several hours, answering questions with great detail and clarity.

But when Mr Morton-Hoffman finished giving evidence at the inquest, there was one question he couldn’t answer.

Counsel assisting Jeremy Gormly brought the session to a close with a personal question.

“How are you going?” Mr Gormly asked.

“I’d prefer not to say, to be honest,” Mr Morton-Hoffman responded.

And with that, Mr Morton-Hoffman had said it all.

Jarrod Morton-Hoffman is the first hostage to give evidence at the inquest. Picture: Brendan Esposito/AAP

The inquest is looking into the deaths arising from the siege, which began when gunman Monis entered the cafe on December 15, 2014 and took 18 people hostage.

Cafe manager Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson were killed in the siege, along with Monis.

Earlier the inquest heard that the gunman told hostages he “should have shot” one of the hostages who escaped.

Mr Morton-Hoffman, the first hostage to give evidence at the inquest into the Lindt cafe siege, described how Monis referred to fellow hostage Stefan Balafoutis as “white shirt man”.

“(Monis) didn’t like him,” Mr Morton-Hoffman said.

“He showed similar aggression as he had towards Tori (Johnson).”

Mr Balafoutis was one of several hostages to escape the cafe in a move that enraged the gunman.

Mr Morton-Hoffman recalled Monis’ reaction to Mr Balafoutis’ escape.

“‘White shirt’ always had his eyes open, I should have shot him when I had the chance,” Monis reportedly said, according to Mr Morton-Hoffman.

Counsel assisting Jeremy Gormly told the inquest today that Monis had also reportedly said he thought Mr Balafoutis was “unreasonable” and that he felt “bad” for not shooting him.

The moment Stefan Balafoutis runs to safety. Picture: Don Arnold/Getty Images

Mr Morton-Hoffman, aged just 19 at the time, told the inquest he contemplated locking Monis in the freezer.

The now 20-year-old said Monis wanted to smoke a cigarette but was concerned about setting off the smoke alarms and activating the sprinklers.

“I thought this was an opportunity to lure him into the freezer,” he said. “The roof is about 2m tall and quite easy to reach. We could possibly convince him to go into freezer where he could Gladwrap the sprinkler in there and we could close the door with him inside.

“We figured if he released rounds (from the) shotgun it would most likely kill him and not go through the door (because it was strong metal). Someone else suggested we could get another bottle and he could blow the smoke into it and cap it.

“One of us went and got a bottle for him, and he’s smoked into the bottle. I capped the bottle and put it in the sink, which I later told the police about because I was worried they would think it was an explosive in the kitchen.”

Yesterday, the inquest heard how Mr Morton-Hoffman helped hostages escape by muffling the sound as they fled before convincing Monis that media reports about the number of escapees were wrong.

Mr Morton-Hoffman also slipped cards with hand-drawn maps under a door to tip police off on the layout of the cafe and the whereabouts of the gunman and hostages inside.

Today, Mr Morton-Hoffman spoke about the moment that Monis pulled out a small, handheld radio and said: “This is a detonator”.

“It seemed to be a small black object with a small antennae. He was grasping it in his palm. It looked like a walkie talkie or small radio.”

Man Haron Monis told hostages he had an exit plan and hinted he was not acting alone.

MONIS HAD AN EXIT PLAN

Mr Morton-Hoffman also talked about how Monis apparently had an exit plan, but did not tell the hostages.

“(Monis) said ‘I have a plan’. He didn’t state what it was, just that he had one,” Mr Morton-Hoffman said. “He asked me to come close to him and stated ‘don’t assume that I’m working alone’. At the time I wasn’t sure to take that as an attempt on his behalf to divide and conquer (hostage) Fiona (Ma) and I.”

Mr Gormly asked Mr Morton-Hoffman if Monis thought there would be a peaceful outcome.

“I do recall him saying throughout the day the onus of responsibility whether the day would end peacefully or not was with the police,” he replied.

“That if they listened to his demands as he wanted, ‘all or most of you’ would be released.

“(But) it was my understanding, especially as the day went on, that we were not going to have a peaceful resolution and the day would end with some sort of escalation.”

Monis told the hostages that if police came into the building “someone will die”, Mr Morton-Hoffman told the inquest.

Hostages run with their hands up from the Lindt cafe. Picture: Joosep Martinson/Getty Images

THE DRAMATIC ESCAPE

In his final statements to the inquest, Mr Morton-Hoffman talked about his dramatic escape.

About 2am, Monis took two hostages with him to check the side door of the cafe. Mr Morton-Hoffman was concerned because he had slid business cards under that door to communicate with police.

“(I) was afraid if he opened it he would find them and learn we’d been communicating with police,” he said.

As Monis moved towards the side door, Mr Morton-Hoffman made the decision to leave the cafe with as many hostages as possible.

“It was 2am and I felt like our attempts at placating Monis were finished. This was the first time he’d left the room,” he said.

“I figured if he opened the door it would be definitely (mean) death for all of us. So this was our final opportunity to make an escape before the police entered the cafe.

“I said ‘I’m going’. I was addressing the entire group — a loud whisper. I stated that a few times before making the eventual decision to turn around and push through the doors.

“I turned around and quickly pushed the doors open and sprinted and as I was running I heard the sound of glass smashing on the ground. I heard Monis, by this point I had run around the corner (into the foyer) and was running toward auto doors that open to (the street).

“I heard Monis scream ‘what was that’ (in response to glass). I tried to pry the (double) doors open with my hands but they were locked.

“I heard (hostage) Joel (Herat) scream ‘he’s chasing us’. As I looked over my shoulder I went to press the emergency buttons, as I did that I heard the rest of the hostages run out.”

After he escaped, Mr Morton-Hoffman was taken to a nearby pub that had been set up as the local area command by police.

“I believe I was in that room for quite a while. Enough time to hear the explosions of the entry (to the cafe).

“I was quite fidgety but couldn’t sit down. I was thinking probably a lot faster than I can now. I was still in fight or flight mode.”

WHERE MONIS WENT WRONG

Mr Morton-Hoffman also talked about what Monis did wrong during the ordeal.

“Apart form the paranoia, sensitivities and emotion driven state — overall (Monis) was quite an amateur in what he did,” he said.

“First thing is he didn’t take a hostage count which allowed for (three hostages) to escape without him knowing.

“He relied on hostages to do his bidding with a large set of autonomy which allowed in essence to make plans. (And) he did it alone which meant he had no one to rely upon really.

“He didn’t seem as if he had a set plan apart from to make chaos.”