Lindt Cafe tragedy one year on, Sydney hosts memorial service

CROWDS gathered under stormy skies in Sydney’s Martin Place to remember the victims of the Lindt Cafe siege, one year after the tragedy took place.

Lindt Cafe siege survivor Marcia Mikhael is embraced during a memorial service marking the first anniversary of Lindt Cafe Siege in Martin Place, Sydney, Australia, Dec. 15, 2015. An Iranian-born gunman took 17 people hostage at a central city cafe before police stormed the cafe in the early hours of Dec. 14, 2014. The gunman and two hostages were killed. (Lisa Maree Williams/Pool Photo via AP)

SYDNEY has stopped to remember the Lindt Cafe siege, victims and their families, in a twilight ceremony one year on.

Crowds gathered under stormy skies in Sydney’s Martin Place, with friends and families of the two victims killed in the siege, Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson, in attendance, along with hostage survivors, emergency services members and the general public.

Lindt Cafe siege survivor Marcia Mikhael is embraced during a memorial service marking the first anniversary of Lindt Cafe Siege in Martin Place, Sydney, Australia, Dec. 15, 2015. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Pool Photo via AP

Members of the public listen to a memorial service marking the first anniversary of Lindt Cafe Siege in Martin Place, Sydney, Australia. Picture: Saeed Khan/Pool Photo via AP

Rain did not deter those who wanted to come and pay their respects.

Many brought bunches of flowers, some laid them outside the cafe. Most of the crowd gathered at the east end of Martin Place, with large plasma screens offering them a close up view of the stage, where heartfelt speeches were made and spine-tingling songs were sung. Two hundred and 88 white chairs were placed at the front for victims and their family and friends.

Beverley Tierney of Cronulla was among those who came to pay their respects.

“I often (go) to the Lindt Cafe — to the one at Westfield Miranda — where I believe Tori did work at one stage. It’s regrettable for me that this happened,” she said.

Ms Tierney brought a sunflower and a note to Martin Place for the memorial.

She describes her note: “I have, every day, thought constantly of the tragic happening and it’s been in my mind. I have deepest regards of sympathy to Tori’s partner and of course to the families. And for Katrina, of course. But I specifically wrote this for Tori’s partner.”

Beverley Tierney came up from the Sutherland Shire for the ceremony with Keith Halpin.

Elizabeth and Phillip streets were blocked off ahead of the ceremony.

The memorial took in an address from NSW Premier Mike Baird, a minute’s silence, plus performances by Ascham Chamber Choir, Mark Vincent, Dami I'm and the NSW Public School Singers, as well as poetry readings and reflections on those involved in the siege. Projections on the facade of 53 Martin Place will continue through until midnight.

The Ascham Chamber Choir performs.

The family of Sydney siege victim Katrina Dawson said the public’s warm support was helping them cope on the first anniversary of the tragic event.

The barrister and mother of three children was one of two victims killed during the 16-hour siege at the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place, which began on December 15.

Her family said they had been overwhelmed by the support, generosity and comfort of people in Australia and around the world, a year after gunman Man Haron Monis walked into the cafe and took 18 customers and staff hostage, leaving two dead.

Tori Johnson’s father Ken Johnson and mother Rose Connellan talking with Joel Herat and Fiona Ma after the ceremony at Martin Place, Sydney. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“The warmth of those many voices of support has helped us enormously on the darkest of days,” they said in a statement released on Tuesday.

“Today is one such day.

“Nevertheless we shall remember Katrina not because of the circumstances of this anniversary but because of the extraordinary joy, hope and inspiration she brought to so many people’s lives, ourselves included.”

Mr Baird said Sydney was still in mourning but stood in hope,

“I will never forget what happened at Martin Place a year ago,” he said.

“I will never forget Katrina and Tori.

“And I will certainly never forget the response of this amazing city, as we came together with an outpouring of love and unity.

Hostage survivors Louisa Hope and Jarrod Morton-Hoffman after the ceremony at Martin Place, Sydney. Picture: Jonathan Ng

People leave flowers outside the Lindt Cafe at Martin Place, Sydney. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Outside the Lindt Cafe earlier in the day with Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, Mr Baird reflected on the day terror came to the city.

“We will not be stared down by those who want to bring evil to this city, those that want to divide us. We stand in hope,” he said.

“That great hope that came is something I don’t think anyone that was here will ever forget — and really that is what we stand on today, both in mourning with those we lost — but (also) the great hope that came and was shown by the city in the face of that adversity.”