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POLICE UNDERESTIMATED THE threat posed by a self-styled Islamic cleric during a Sydney café siege and took too long to storm the building, an inquest found today, but it absolved them of blame for two deaths.
The findings into the December 2014 tragedy that shocked Australia followed intense scrutiny of New South Wales state police tactics, which have been blasted by families of those who died.
Despite his criticisms, coroner Michael Barnes made it clear that Iranian-born Man Haron Monis, a “vicious maniac”, was solely responsible for what unfolded at the Lindt café in the city’s financial hub.
“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,” he said. “All of the blame for those rests on the shoulders of Man Monis.
He created the intensely dangerous situation. He maliciously executed Tori Johnson.
He barricaded himself into a corner of the cafe and his actions forced police to enter the cafe in circumstances where the risk of hostages being wounded or killed was very high.
Monis, 50, began the siege in the upmarket chocolate café early on 15 December 2014, taking staff and customers hostage for 17 hours while armed with a pump-action shotgun.
It ended after he shot dead 34-year-old café manager Johnson.
Tactical police stormed the building, killing Monis. Katrina Dawson, a 38-year-old barrister and mother of three, died after being hit by a ricocheting police bullet or fragment.
Barnes said the challenge faced by detectives was “greatly increased by the fact that this was the first terrorism-related siege in Australia”.
Calculated decision
But he said they waited too long to make their move after the first shot was fired by Monis.
“The 10 minutes that lapsed without decisive action by police was too long,” he said.
Barnes also described an unnamed consultant psychiatrist’s role in advising them on tactics as “suboptimal”.
“He made erroneous and unrealistic assessments of what was occurring in the stronghold. He gave ambiguous advice,” he said, adding it was partly to blame for how police commanders “underestimated the threat Monis posed”.
Barnes urged police to consider expanding the number of psychological advisers they use as consultants, and introduce clear policies for any that are asked to assist in future.
He also recommended that police review the training and accreditation of negotiators.
Victims’ families have been critical of the tactics used by police, who hoped to “contain and negotiate” with Monis, believing he also had a bomb in his backpack which was later found to be fake.
They were incensed when learning that police only planned to move in if a hostage was killed or seriously injured.
“I’ll never be able to understand how you can make a calculated decision that you wait for someone to die. It’s just beyond me,” Rosie Connellan, Johnson’s mother, told broadcaster ABC.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller conceded that armed officers should have been sent in earlier to rescue the hostages, but insisted that “contain and negotiate” had saved countless lives over the years.
“In hindsight, knowing everything we know now, we should have gone in earlier,” he told reporters, adding that police forces globally had learnt valuable lessons from the incident in terms of “contain and negotiate versus early intervention”.
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Awfully nice of them considering it was supposed to go back to free.
@Seth Cheffetz: Go back to free probably the wrong term “become” probably more correct. Very annoying it didn’t become free when it should have. The only reason to keep charging should be to make it widder
@Seth Cheffetz: But they haven’t actually reduced the price at all…… they just no longer can charge tax on it….. they’ll continue to receive the exact same amount…… but are trying to dress it up like they are giving something back
@Augustus hoop: If they can not charge tax on it then will all tolls drop in price?
@Augustus hoop: If they can no longet charge tax on it then are they reducing the cost of all tolls arounf the country.!
@Seth Cheffetz: I’d love it to be free but if it were free to use then the Eastlink would be overrun with traffic.
It’s hard enough to cross it at busy times as it doesn’t have the capacity to handle 21st century volumes.
there is a dire need for a second bridge beside it which I know is planned but when will it happen?
@Chris Mackey: you don’t pay VAT on the M50. It’s €2.10 if you use a tag and €3.10 if you don’t. The full amount of this goes to the operator. The only charge or VAT is on the monthly toll tag charge.
That’s big of them. All the DCC counsellors had the chance to abolish the toll about 2 years ago & they voted not to. #screwthemotorist must be a mantra.
@Matt Donovan: what do people trained to give guidance on personal or psychological problems have to do with tolls ?
@Boganity: nit picking much are we? The journal doesn’t allow for edit autocorrect phukkups (see what I did there?)
Can people claim the paid VAT back…..
@Pauliebhoy: yes send me on your back details and I’ll do it for you
@Jamie: *bank
@Pauliebhoy: company cars already do.
@Jamie: *wank
Hold on so Its not DCC at all it’s just the vat is being removed. Is there vat on the others? That bridge is well paid for. Toll is a scam just like the M50.
@Bilbo Baggins: governments are a scam
@Bilbo Baggins: If everyone simply stopped paying the M50 scam, that would be the end of it. Same with the tv license scam.
“Pleased to announce a drop in toll charges”
Realistically though they are now going to be charging the proper price after revenue told them they shouldn’t be charging vat……right ?
@Jason Ebbs: revenue told them they should be charging vat, the European court for them they shouldn’t.
@Mark Boyle: cheers
Absolute thieves in DCC the day they voted to retain the tolls after people believing the promise that it would be abolished after 25 years. It was not DCC’s to take – the users had paid for it already as agreed.
DCC should be “pleased to” admit it had nothing to do with them. Chancers.
Should be done away with altogether! The bridge has been paid for 50 times over now
“We are please to announced that ee’re so incompetent that we’ve been needlessly charging VAT for several years.”
The Toll Bridge is a direct tax on working commuters and small business toiling away every day.
I wonder which party is the majority of DCC?
When the East Link bridge was opened in 1984 we were promised it would be free after the cost of building and some profit was taken….It was never planned to still be a toll bridge 33 years later…..
Pretty sure that bridge was finally paid for in 2014 and in 2015 DCC gained control of it. Thus it is now nothing more than a double tax.
@Colm O’Sullivan: I’ve just remembered that Shane Ross had a lot to say on that. He wasn’t popular for it.
http://www.shaneross.ie/category/transport/the-m50-and-westlink-bridge/
Wait for the price increase in about 2 or 3 months time
What was the criteria or classification for the East Link bridge for it to comply with Revenue’s VAT-free status? What about the M50 toll bridge? (Public versus private ownership perhaps?)… but just don’t start me off on the ridiculousness of that other rip-off subject!!
Given the priority DCC is giving to taking traffic that’s crossing the Liffey out of the most central artery between north and south (O’Connell Street-College Green-Nassau Street-Kildare Street), it would make more sense to encourage traffic that isn’t going for the city centre away from the next closest route (Samuel Beckett Bridge) if at all possible.
Getting rid of the toll on the East Link would be a massive help here.
It is adding to the traffic problems – totally in adequate bridge, three lanes merging to one – madness and then paying for the privilege.
Traffic is bad enough at peak times there with a toll, if you scraped it it would be chaotic – would agree with it free outside of peak times as it needlessly puts traffic on the Sam Beckett bridge
@John Fahey: That’s the whole point of something being free John, everybody’s able to use it then whether it’s busy or very busy
We paid for that bridge for the past 25 years -Goes to show DCC cannot be trusted
Wonder if it applies to e-tag users?
Am sure Mr Ross had a lot to do with this. ..? What a minister.
@John Scott: Would you ever read this before you talk nonsense?
http://www.shaneross.ie/category/transport/the-m50-and-westlink-bridge/
It’s actually a price increase if you take VAT off original charges. All prices should be cheaper.
Who do they think they are fooling? All motorists should drive to DCC and block the entrance to their own “free” car park.
Joy of the motorbike is no toll on east-link or m50 but shh don’t tell them
This needs to be barrier free now.
Can I get a VAT refund on all the VAT that I paid
Poor Thomas Clarke is turning in his grave. He dies for Ireland in 1916 and then gets his name associated with a Toll Bridge … which was supposed to return to the Irish people free if charge…
Did anyone if the Clarke family object to this insult to a 1916 martyr ?
This reduction in charges is not what you think.
The DCC aren’t doing you a favour.
This is a change for the run-in to introducing charges at every junction on the M50.
They may drop the charges again in a few months and likely intruduce the junction charges early next year.
Don’t be fooled, you have been warned.
Cos it’s not worth a b**** s ,Samuel Beckett is nearly as quick and is free !!!!
Great, so more vehicles on a bridge that should be twice, if not triple, the size!!!
When are they going to expand it???
Takes over an hour some days to get across it
Great, that just means way more cars on a bridge that should be twice if not triple the size!!!!
Takes an hour to get across it some days
When are the going to expand it????
Vats great
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