Police in the dark on terrorist Hassan Khalif Shire Ali’s passport

Counter-terror authorities did not pass on to police key information about Bourke Street attacker, Andrews government reveals.

Hassan Khalif Shire Ali attacks a policeman during last week’s Bourke Street terror attack. Picture: Twitter

Counter-terror authorities did not pass on to police crucial ­information about the cancellation of Bourke Street attacker Hassan Khalif Shire Ali’s passport, the Andrews government has revealed, as it emerged the ­Islamic extremist was on bail for driving offences and had failed to appear in court several times.

Shire Ali — who was shot dead by police during the terror attack eight days ago during which he killed 74-year-old restaurateur Sisto Malaspina and knifed two others — had his bail extended about four weeks before his jihadi mission. He had failed to appear in court several times over driving offences and warrants had been issued for his arrest, but police had granted him bail and he was due back in court in January.

As the first image of Shire Ali’s wife emerged yesterday, Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy leapt on the bail revelation, which came a week before the state election, saying Shire Ali “should have been in jail” and that if he was premier “if you breach bail, you go to jail”.

Attorney-General Martin Pakula accused Mr Guy and opposition legal affairs spokesman John Pesutto of ­“seeking to capitalise on the death of a beloved Victorian for political advantage”.

Mr Pakula revealed Shire Ali was on bail for “routine driving ­offences” when he drove a ute into the city a week ago, set it alight and launched his stabbing attack.

Victoria’s Attorney-General Martin Pakula. Picture: Aaron Francis

“He had no history of violence, bail was not opposed by police, ­remand was not sought by police, and I’m not being critical of the police in that in any way,” he said.

“There are something like 18,000 to 20,000 cases per year of people who are driving with a cancelled licence, and it is entirely uncommon, almost as rare as anything, for police to seek to cancel bail in those circumstances … for the opposition to suggest that under their regime this individual would have been held in remand, is just completely untrue.”

Pressed on the fact Shire Ali was known to security agencies and this should have raised flags for police considering his bail, Mr Pakula said: “The fact that his passport had been cancelled had not been conveyed to Victoria Police. So frankly, it is a big leap to say that in those circumstances, police ought to have sought to remand him in custody for driving offences. In a perfect world, all of the ­information held by every authority, state and federal, should be shared with one another. But I have heard the explanations from Duncan Lewis and from ASIO, the Chief Commissioner has conveyed them, and I think ASIO have a large watch list and they ­effectively triage those people that they place the greatest surveillance on.”

He said he understood concerns about information not being shared between agencies.

Sisto Malaspina was killed during the terror attack. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Shire Ali’s passport was cancelled by federal authorities in 2015 amid concerns the Somali-born man would try to go to Syria to fight for Islamic State. Court documents emerged yesterday showing he had been charged on three separate occasions with driving offences back to February last year and had failed to attend court to answer any of them. Shire Ali forfeited his bail in August last year, and again six months later, before being served with a warrant in October that extended his bail for another three months. During this period he failed to ­attend four court hearings and was charged on three separate occasions with a total of six offences.

Mr Pesutto said that under laws proposed by the opposition, Shire Ali would have been in custody after having repeatedly breached bail conditions.

“It shows just how messed up our justice system has become that someone could repeatedly breach the terms of their bail and be free to commit the atrocity that he did,” Mr Pesutto said.

Mr Guy said the revelation Shire Ali had been on bail showed a “beloved Melbourne icon” had been murdered by a man who should have been in jail. “Under the Liberal-Nationals, if you are on bail and you breach the conditions of your bail, you will face remand. It is that simple,” he said.

Mr Pakula accused the ­Coalition of “seeking to capitalise on the death of a beloved Victorian, someone I considered a friend”.

Shire Ali had a rap sheet that included burglary, receiving stolen goods, possession and use of cannabis, speeding at 147km/h in a 100km/h zone, and driving an unregistered vehicle. He had not been convicted of violent offences.

He was sentenced in 2012 to a 12-month community order over the burglary and obtaining stolen goods charges, and was required to do 250 hours of unpaid community work and undergo regular drug testing and rehabilitation.

He was re-sentenced to a two-year community corrections order and judicial monitoring for three months after he breached the order. Again, he failed to ­appear in court to be monitored.

In 2014 he was found to have breached the community corrections order yet again, and was sentenced to a two-month suspended jail term and fined $1500.

The Weekend Australian yesterday confirmed the first image of Shire Ali’s wife. Her father said she was unaware her husband had been radicalised. “Do you think I would let her marry any jihadist? No way,” Ahmet Eren said. “All my family are Muslim. We hate extremists. Islam is not about terrorism and killing people.”

He said his daughter, who used to wear a hijab but had recently embraced the niqab, and his son-in-law were planning to travel to Somalia for a holiday when Shire Ali’s passport was cancelled.

Additional Reporting: Tessa Akerman