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| Sydney siege inquest resumes with a blame game over gunman's bail application – rolling report | Sydney siege inquest resumes with a blame game over gunman's bail application – rolling report |
| (30 days later) | |
| 7.24am BST | 7.24am BST |
| 07:24 | 07:24 |
| And that’s that. Thanks for sticking with us for a day of shadow boxing between the DPP and the NSW police. The first segment of hearings focused on Monis’ biography, and only vaguely touched on the events of 2014 leading up to the December siege. There was nobody to blame, no pointed fingers; only investigation, fact-finding. This round of hearings, which centres on why Monis was free in December 2014, is going to be very different. | And that’s that. Thanks for sticking with us for a day of shadow boxing between the DPP and the NSW police. The first segment of hearings focused on Monis’ biography, and only vaguely touched on the events of 2014 leading up to the December siege. There was nobody to blame, no pointed fingers; only investigation, fact-finding. This round of hearings, which centres on why Monis was free in December 2014, is going to be very different. |
| A summary: | A summary: |
| We’ll be back again at 9:30am tomorrow. I’ll have a new story up shortly, and our daily podcast up first thing Wednesday. | We’ll be back again at 9:30am tomorrow. I’ll have a new story up shortly, and our daily podcast up first thing Wednesday. |
| 6.58am BST | 6.58am BST |
| 06:58 | 06:58 |
| We’re back onto this question of why the police didn’t arrest Monis in October 2014, after being told that doing so could see him jailed. | We’re back onto this question of why the police didn’t arrest Monis in October 2014, after being told that doing so could see him jailed. |
| “At the very least it would have been unreasonable. At it’s highest, it would have been unlawful,” Stek says. | “At the very least it would have been unreasonable. At it’s highest, it would have been unlawful,” Stek says. |
| “We had already arrested him twice, bail refused him twice ... if we did it again, then we would have been heavily criticised at the least, and our actions considered unlawful at the highest.” | “We had already arrested him twice, bail refused him twice ... if we did it again, then we would have been heavily criticised at the least, and our actions considered unlawful at the highest.” |
| Criticised by whom? “The courts, who made thier views very clear with respect to [Monis’] liberty.” | Criticised by whom? “The courts, who made thier views very clear with respect to [Monis’] liberty.” |
| 6.37am BST | 6.37am BST |
| 06:37 | 06:37 |
| A suppression order is going to make this difficult to report, but we’ve just heard evidence that the police overlooked the fact that Monis was on bail when he allegedly committed another very serious - and suppressed - offence in 2013. | A suppression order is going to make this difficult to report, but we’ve just heard evidence that the police overlooked the fact that Monis was on bail when he allegedly committed another very serious - and suppressed - offence in 2013. |
| This really is extraordinary. Monis was accused of committing at least two serious indictable offences while on bail for four years for sending offensive letters to the widows and families of deceased Australian soldiers. But it appears police in NSW never put two and two together and relayed this information to the DPP. Nor, for that matter, did the DPP ever discover that information itself. | This really is extraordinary. Monis was accused of committing at least two serious indictable offences while on bail for four years for sending offensive letters to the widows and families of deceased Australian soldiers. But it appears police in NSW never put two and two together and relayed this information to the DPP. Nor, for that matter, did the DPP ever discover that information itself. |
| The DPP also suggested that if Monis was arrested again on fresh charges, there would be the opportunity to put him behind bars. The police never did so, as we heard this morning. | The DPP also suggested that if Monis was arrested again on fresh charges, there would be the opportunity to put him behind bars. The police never did so, as we heard this morning. |
| Stek is suggesting that the DPP’s message wasn’t delivered so clearly. Had he known that an arrest could have put Monis behind bars, he would have done so, he says. | Stek is suggesting that the DPP’s message wasn’t delivered so clearly. Had he known that an arrest could have put Monis behind bars, he would have done so, he says. |
| 6.02am BST | 6.02am BST |
| 06:02 | 06:02 |
| We heard in the last segment of hearings that Monis had “a curious feature of administrative compliance”, as Gormly has put it. | We heard in the last segment of hearings that Monis had “a curious feature of administrative compliance”, as Gormly has put it. |
| Stek says this fastidiousness made it difficult for police to argue against bail for Monis. | Stek says this fastidiousness made it difficult for police to argue against bail for Monis. |
| “He had very good subjective features ... he would turn up, report on bail, meet his court appearances, reside where he had to reside, didn’t try to travel out of the country,” he says. | “He had very good subjective features ... he would turn up, report on bail, meet his court appearances, reside where he had to reside, didn’t try to travel out of the country,” he says. |
| 6.00am BST | 6.00am BST |
| 06:00 | 06:00 |
| Monis’ face was plastered across the news in September 2014 when he took part in protests in Lakemba after the execution of several search warrants across Melbourne and Sydney by counter-terrorism police. | Monis’ face was plastered across the news in September 2014 when he took part in protests in Lakemba after the execution of several search warrants across Melbourne and Sydney by counter-terrorism police. |
| Stek raised this with the DPP solicitor when Monis appeared in court in October 2014, going as far as accusing Monis of being one of the instigators of the protest - but why? | Stek raised this with the DPP solicitor when Monis appeared in court in October 2014, going as far as accusing Monis of being one of the instigators of the protest - but why? |
| “We raise other matters that might tip [a bail application] over, to give it the weight of evidence to oppose bail,” he says. | “We raise other matters that might tip [a bail application] over, to give it the weight of evidence to oppose bail,” he says. |
| Counsel assisting, Jeremy Gormly SC, is having none of this. “There is not a shred of evidence to suggest that Mr Monis was the main protagonist, was there?” he asks. | Counsel assisting, Jeremy Gormly SC, is having none of this. “There is not a shred of evidence to suggest that Mr Monis was the main protagonist, was there?” he asks. |
| Stek ducks and weaves but admit there was none. | Stek ducks and weaves but admit there was none. |
| What’s going on here? It seems Gormly is trying to head off any attempt by the police - now or in the future - to claim they raised issues of Monis’ links to terrorism with the DPP solicitor, who failed to press the issue. | What’s going on here? It seems Gormly is trying to head off any attempt by the police - now or in the future - to claim they raised issues of Monis’ links to terrorism with the DPP solicitor, who failed to press the issue. |
| Ultimately, Stek was unhappy with the DPP’s decision not to make a detention order, but didn’t formally challenge it. | Ultimately, Stek was unhappy with the DPP’s decision not to make a detention order, but didn’t formally challenge it. |
| “Your view was, there is no point in a contest,” Gormly says. | “Your view was, there is no point in a contest,” Gormly says. |
| “Yes,” Stek says. | “Yes,” Stek says. |
| “And so there wasn’t really any contest between your view and [the DPP solicitors’]?” | “And so there wasn’t really any contest between your view and [the DPP solicitors’]?” |
| “Yes.” | “Yes.” |
| 5.38am BST | 5.38am BST |
| 05:38 | 05:38 |
| "The confounding factor was the Bail Act of 2013" | "The confounding factor was the Bail Act of 2013" |
| Fast forward to October, when Monis was hit with an additional 37 sex offences. | Fast forward to October, when Monis was hit with an additional 37 sex offences. |
| Stek asked a DPP solicitor (name suppressed) about whether Monis stood any chance of being refused bail. | Stek asked a DPP solicitor (name suppressed) about whether Monis stood any chance of being refused bail. |
| The DPP solicitor told him that “regardless of how he manipulated the variables in respect to our position, the confounding factor was the Bail Act of 2013, unamended as it was then”. | The DPP solicitor told him that “regardless of how he manipulated the variables in respect to our position, the confounding factor was the Bail Act of 2013, unamended as it was then”. |
| This strong stuff: testimony that reforms to the Bail Act - welcomed by much of the legal fraternity at the time - may have directly contributed to Monis being out on the street in December 2014. | This strong stuff: testimony that reforms to the Bail Act - welcomed by much of the legal fraternity at the time - may have directly contributed to Monis being out on the street in December 2014. |
| 5.23am BST | 5.23am BST |
| 05:23 | 05:23 |
| Stek is really teeing off on the Bail Act of 2013, which attempted to streamline the bail system in NSW by introducing a single test: asking if the accused posed an unacceptable risk, and then whether conditions could mitigate that risk. | Stek is really teeing off on the Bail Act of 2013, which attempted to streamline the bail system in NSW by introducing a single test: asking if the accused posed an unacceptable risk, and then whether conditions could mitigate that risk. |
| “In my opinion, it was clear that the law favoured accused persons in custody,” Stek says. | “In my opinion, it was clear that the law favoured accused persons in custody,” Stek says. |
| “I formed a view that unacceptable risk was just that, unacceptable, and could not be mitigated by strict bail conditions.” | “I formed a view that unacceptable risk was just that, unacceptable, and could not be mitigated by strict bail conditions.” |
| 5.18am BST | 5.18am BST |
| 05:18 | 05:18 |
| We’re back and hearing from detective Eugene Stek, a team leader within the NSW police’s sex crimes squad. | We’re back and hearing from detective Eugene Stek, a team leader within the NSW police’s sex crimes squad. |
| He’s talking about a courts decision on 22 May 2014 to grant Monis bail on three sex offences. Monis was “one of the first cases” to go before a magistrate under NSW’s reformed bail laws. | He’s talking about a courts decision on 22 May 2014 to grant Monis bail on three sex offences. Monis was “one of the first cases” to go before a magistrate under NSW’s reformed bail laws. |
| Stek believed Monis was likely to be freed. “I’m always optimistic, however, it was going to be very difficult,” he said. “I wasn’t sure how the courts were going to interpret the law.” | Stek believed Monis was likely to be freed. “I’m always optimistic, however, it was going to be very difficult,” he said. “I wasn’t sure how the courts were going to interpret the law.” |
| He personally disliked the new bail regime, believing “it would be easily manipulated by accused persons. It would be easy to show how the unacceptable risk could be mitigated by strict bail conditions”. | He personally disliked the new bail regime, believing “it would be easily manipulated by accused persons. It would be easy to show how the unacceptable risk could be mitigated by strict bail conditions”. |
| 3.59am BST | 3.59am BST |
| 03:59 | 03:59 |
| With that, the inquest is breaking for lunch. It returns in an hour. | With that, the inquest is breaking for lunch. It returns in an hour. |
| What we have learned so far today? | What we have learned so far today? |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 5.26am BST | at 5.26am BST |
| 3.54am BST | 3.54am BST |
| 03:54 | 03:54 |
| National criminal record database would be "a godsend" | National criminal record database would be "a godsend" |
| Michalko is outlining some of the challenges DPP solicitors face in getting information about defendants, especially at the local court level. Material comes in at late notice; some matters aren’t even recorded in the system; sometimes bail applications pop up in the list without notice “and you dont have time to make enquiries”, she says. “That happens pretty regularly.” | Michalko is outlining some of the challenges DPP solicitors face in getting information about defendants, especially at the local court level. Material comes in at late notice; some matters aren’t even recorded in the system; sometimes bail applications pop up in the list without notice “and you dont have time to make enquiries”, she says. “That happens pretty regularly.” |
| She’s asked about whether it would be helpful to have a national database showing a defendant’s criminal history and bail record. | She’s asked about whether it would be helpful to have a national database showing a defendant’s criminal history and bail record. |
| “That would be a godsend,” Michalko replies. | “That would be a godsend,” Michalko replies. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 4.00am BST | at 4.00am BST |