- Title: Australian police did not act fast enough to deadly siege - coroner
- Date: 24th May 2017
- Summary: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, (FILE - DECEMBER 16, 2014) (REUTERS) HOSTAGES ESCAPING AND RUNNING THROUGH MARTIN PLACE
- Embargoed: 7th June 2017 04:40
- Keywords: death hostages Sydney cafe siege deadly siege police Australia
- Location: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
- City: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
- Country: Australia
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA0056I75Z5X
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Australian police failed to respond quickly enough to the threat posed by a gunman responsible for a 16-hour siege at a Sydney cafe in 2014 in which three people including the hostage-taker were killed, a coroner said in a report on Wednesday (May 24).
While attributing blame for the deaths of Lindt Chocolate Cafe manager Tori Johnson and lawyer Katrina Dawson to gunman Man Haron Monis, New South Wales Coroner Michael Barnes said police should have acted promptly after Monis fired a warning shot.
Monis killed Johnson shortly after that. Dawson was killed by fragments of a bullet fired by police after they stormed the cafe in the city's central business district 10 minutes after the gunman fired the warning shot. Monis was killed by police fire.
Barnes said the police had an incomplete picture of the threat posed by Monis and they placed too much emphasis on the advice of a psychologist, who was not an expert in acts of terror, and the incorrect belief that negotiations were progressing.
Australia, a staunch ally of the United States and its escalating action against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, has been on high alert for attacks by home-grown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East or their supporters. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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