Police cleared over Lindt siege deaths

Armed police at the Lindt Cafe on the day of the siege. Photo: Getty Images
Armed police at the Lindt Cafe on the day of the siege. Photo: Getty Images
The Lindt Cafe siege in Sydney was a terrorist incident, and Man Haron Monis alone was responsible for the deaths, not police, a New South Wales coroner has found.

"I cannot stress too heavily that the deaths and injuries that occurred as a result of the siege were not the fault of the police," Michael Barnes said in his findings into the December 2014 siege.

"All of the blame for those rest wih Man Haron Monis."

Two hostages, Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson, were killed at the end of the siege.

Mr Barnes said Monis "maliciously" executed Mr Johnson. Ms Dawson was killed by fragments from police bullets, in what Mr Barnes said on Wednesday was "a terrible accident".

The coroner said it was unclear whether Man Monis was motivated by Islamic State or whether he used it "to bolster his own ends."

"Either way, he adopted extreme violence with a view of influencing government action or public opinion concerning Australia's involvement in armed conflict in the Middle East," he found.

"That clearly brings his crimes within the accepted definition of terrorism. The siege was a terrorist incident."

The coroner said the frontline police officers who smashed their way into the cafe after 2am on December 16 knew Monis was armed with a gun he would almost certainly use against them.

They also thought - wrongly as it turned out - that he was carrying a bomb that would kill everyone in the cafe unless they could kill him before he detonated it.

"The bravery of these officers inspires all," Mr Barnes said.

The coroner noted, however, that commanding officers came under intense scrutiny during the 23-week inquest.

He acknowledged "the burden of command they carried" knowing the dangers they were requiring their subordinates to confront when they went into the cafe.

But he was critical of issues with hostages being able to contact police.

He revealed that late calls by hostages to a number they had been told would connect them with a negotiator were not answered.

He said an unknown number of calls were also diverted to other telephones within the police force.

"This was a significant failure in a basic component of siege management."

While commanders and tactical officers receive specialist training in how to deal with terrorist, negotiators receive little guidance if any.

Mr Barnes recommended that the NSW police force review its procedure to ensure that handovers between negotiation teams are staggered, so that a fully briefed officer is always available to receive calls from the stronghold.

He was also critical that Man Monis had been granted bail despite being charged with being an accessory to his ex-wife's murder.

But he said NSW police and the Director of Public Prosecutions were unaware of commonwealth charges he was facing.

He recommended a mechanism be developed to make sure all information on criminal history is accessible to police and prosecutors across all jurisdictions.

The families of Ms Dawson and Mr Johnson were at the court to hear the findings.