Sydney siege shotgun 'fired' in chilling courtroom reconstruction
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Version 0 of 1. The crudely sawn-off shotgun Man Haron Monis wielded inside the Lindt cafe was fired again on Wednesday in a chilling reconstruction for the Sydney siege inquest. New South Wales police crime scene officer Walter Murphy told the New South Wales coroner the weapon, a Manufrance LaSalle 12-gauge shotgun, was about 50 years old and had never been registered in Australia. Cartridges scattered on the floor of the courtroom as Murphy fired several dummy shots to demonstrate the weapon’s firing speed. He said it was impossible to tell why the gun – “in fair working order” – was cut down, but it was likely a hacksaw has been used to reduce it from more than 1.2m long to 58cm. “It could have been cut yesterday and left in a corrosive environment and it would look rusty and old or it could have been cut 20 years ago, wrapped in an oily rag or [kept in] a dry environment and it’s looking pristine,” Murphy said. The barrel was not cut straight and was not done by a skilled person, Murphy said. The shotgun had never been registered in Australia and was imported in the 1950s, the inquest has heard. It was likely one of an estimated 250,000 guns on the “grey market” for illegal weapons that should have been handed in under the 1996 gun buyback. One survivor, Louisa Hope, was present in the court during the evidence. Murphy said the pump-action gun could hold three cartridges in its magazine plus a fourth in the firing chamber and could fire four shots in five to 10 seconds. The inquest continues. |