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| Sydney siege: gunman offered to release Katrina Dawson minutes into standoff | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Hostage Katrina Dawson was told she was allowed to go free minutes into the December 2014 siege of the Lindt cafe but Man Haron Monis did not follow through on the offer, an inquest has heard. | |
| About 16 hours later the barrister and mother-of-three was shot and killed when police stormed the Martin Place cafe. | About 16 hours later the barrister and mother-of-three was shot and killed when police stormed the Martin Place cafe. |
| The coronial inquest into the siege heard on Thursday from Stefan Balafoutis, a colleague of Dawson’s who was also caught up in the siege. | The coronial inquest into the siege heard on Thursday from Stefan Balafoutis, a colleague of Dawson’s who was also caught up in the siege. |
| He said that soon after identifying himself as an attacker from Islamic State, Monis told Dawson and another hostage, Julie Taylor, that “you two can go”. | He said that soon after identifying himself as an attacker from Islamic State, Monis told Dawson and another hostage, Julie Taylor, that “you two can go”. |
| Dawson asked if Balafoutis could join them and the gunman agreed. | Dawson asked if Balafoutis could join them and the gunman agreed. |
| “I stood up with Katrina and Julie, we all started walking towards the main doors,” Balafoutis recalled. “I don’t remember precisely what Monis said, but I do remember we all stopped at different places.” | “I stood up with Katrina and Julie, we all started walking towards the main doors,” Balafoutis recalled. “I don’t remember precisely what Monis said, but I do remember we all stopped at different places.” |
| Monis asked the cafe manager, Tori Johnson, how to open the doors, but never gave the order to do so. | Monis asked the cafe manager, Tori Johnson, how to open the doors, but never gave the order to do so. |
| “As we stood close to the doors, I heard Tori say, you just push the green buttons to open the doors. I was just waiting for something to happen,” Balafoutis said. “But it just simply never happened.” | “As we stood close to the doors, I heard Tori say, you just push the green buttons to open the doors. I was just waiting for something to happen,” Balafoutis said. “But it just simply never happened.” |
| Balafoutis was among the first group of hostages to escape the cafe about 3.40pm that afternoon, along with 82-year-old John O’Brien. | |
| The pair were sitting on a bench near a partition, past which stood the main doors of the cafe. | The pair were sitting on a bench near a partition, past which stood the main doors of the cafe. |
| O’Brien told the inquest on Thursday he believed he could squeeze between the wall and partition and make for the doors, telling Balafoutis: “This is it. I’m trying to get out.” | |
| He said: “I got down on to my left side, crawled through the opening and made my way behind the Lindt coffee sign, and over to the glass doors where the green button was.” | |
| Trailed by Balafoutis, O’Brien pressed the button and waited to see if the door would open, calling the delay “the worst five seconds of my life”. | |
| If the door had not opened he believed Monis would “probably shoot the two of us in the back”. | |
| Balafoutis said it had been necessary to escape because the self-styled sheikh “was not particularly well disposed to me”. | |
| He said Monis referred to other hostages by their names but to him only as “white shirt”, and chided him for opening his eyes against the gunman’s orders. | He said Monis referred to other hostages by their names but to him only as “white shirt”, and chided him for opening his eyes against the gunman’s orders. |
| “I felt that in the event Monis was to shoot somebody because he was panicked with the police it was a high chance it would be me,” he said. | “I felt that in the event Monis was to shoot somebody because he was panicked with the police it was a high chance it would be me,” he said. |
| The inquest heard on Wednesday that a police surveillance device had picked up Monis saying later in the siege, “I feel bad I didn’t shoot white shirt when I had the chance”. | The inquest heard on Wednesday that a police surveillance device had picked up Monis saying later in the siege, “I feel bad I didn’t shoot white shirt when I had the chance”. |
| Earlier in the day a survivor of Sydney’s Lindt cafe siege has broken down recalling her fear that she and another hostage were the last people left in the cafe with an increasingly unstable Monis and that she “would not get out alive”. | Earlier in the day a survivor of Sydney’s Lindt cafe siege has broken down recalling her fear that she and another hostage were the last people left in the cafe with an increasingly unstable Monis and that she “would not get out alive”. |
| The New South Wales coroner has been hearing about the chaotic final minutes of the December 2014 siege, before the gunman was killed in a police raid. | The New South Wales coroner has been hearing about the chaotic final minutes of the December 2014 siege, before the gunman was killed in a police raid. |
| Fiona Ma, who had started working at the Martin Place cafe only a week before the siege, was one of the hostages Monis deputised to do his bidding during the 16-hour standoff. | Fiona Ma, who had started working at the Martin Place cafe only a week before the siege, was one of the hostages Monis deputised to do his bidding during the 16-hour standoff. |
| She recalled on Thursday that after 2am an “increasingly agitated” Monis ordered Ma to leave the bathroom and pose in front of him as a human shield as he scouted the building. | She recalled on Thursday that after 2am an “increasingly agitated” Monis ordered Ma to leave the bathroom and pose in front of him as a human shield as he scouted the building. |
| Related: Sydney siege hostage describes hail of gunfire as they fled Lindt cafe | Related: Sydney siege hostage describes hail of gunfire as they fled Lindt cafe |
| He took her to the window of the cafe, where he could see in the opposing building the reflection of heavily armed police surrounding the cafe. | He took her to the window of the cafe, where he could see in the opposing building the reflection of heavily armed police surrounding the cafe. |
| “Do you see that? Do you see that?” Monis asked Ma and Selina Win Pe, another hostage he had taken as a shield. | “Do you see that? Do you see that?” Monis asked Ma and Selina Win Pe, another hostage he had taken as a shield. |
| “I just pretended I couldn’t see it. I just said, I don’t know what you’re pointing at,” she said. | “I just pretended I couldn’t see it. I just said, I don’t know what you’re pointing at,” she said. |
| The hostages pressed against him, Monis moved into the cafe’s kitchen to secure a fire escape door, ordering the women to begin stacking boxes in the doorway as obstacles to police. | The hostages pressed against him, Monis moved into the cafe’s kitchen to secure a fire escape door, ordering the women to begin stacking boxes in the doorway as obstacles to police. |
| “I was almost done and we heard a glass shatter outside,” Ma said. | “I was almost done and we heard a glass shatter outside,” Ma said. |
| The inquest heard on Wednesday that a glass cup was knocked down and shattered as six hostages in the main section of the cafe went to flee the cafe from a side door. | The inquest heard on Wednesday that a glass cup was knocked down and shattered as six hostages in the main section of the cafe went to flee the cafe from a side door. |
| “[Monis] shouted, ‘what was that?’” Ma recalled. “He left us immediately, he just ran out to the general cafe area and fired his gun.” | “[Monis] shouted, ‘what was that?’” Ma recalled. “He left us immediately, he just ran out to the general cafe area and fired his gun.” |
| Ma ran to the nearby manager’s office and crouched to hide. “There was another gun shot,” she said. | Ma ran to the nearby manager’s office and crouched to hide. “There was another gun shot,” she said. |
| “It sounded like it was him reloading the gun … I remember Jarod [Morton-Hoffman, another hostage] telling me earlier that he thought it was a shotgun, and he told me he can only fire two shots and you have to reload. So I thought, if he’s reloading now I can run out.” | “It sounded like it was him reloading the gun … I remember Jarod [Morton-Hoffman, another hostage] telling me earlier that he thought it was a shotgun, and he told me he can only fire two shots and you have to reload. So I thought, if he’s reloading now I can run out.” |
| Related: Sydney siege inquest: hostage tried to pass coded messages to police | Related: Sydney siege inquest: hostage tried to pass coded messages to police |
| About 2.11am, believing she “would not get out of there alive”, Ma said she “crouch-ran” out of the main doors, unable to see whether there was anyone left in the cafe. | About 2.11am, believing she “would not get out of there alive”, Ma said she “crouch-ran” out of the main doors, unable to see whether there was anyone left in the cafe. |
| “There’s some chance that you and Selina could have been the only ones left,” counsel assisting the commission, Jeremy Gormly, SC, said. | “There’s some chance that you and Selina could have been the only ones left,” counsel assisting the commission, Jeremy Gormly, SC, said. |
| “Yes,” she replied. | “Yes,” she replied. |
| “And you didn’t want that to be the case.” | “And you didn’t want that to be the case.” |
| “No,” she replied, breaking down in tears. | “No,” she replied, breaking down in tears. |
| About two minutes after Ma’s escape, Monis killed Tori Johnson, the cafe’s manager. | About two minutes after Ma’s escape, Monis killed Tori Johnson, the cafe’s manager. |
| Ma told the inquest that earlier in the siege Johnson had felt it was his duty to protect the other hostages and assured her “he would stay” until the end of the siege. | Ma told the inquest that earlier in the siege Johnson had felt it was his duty to protect the other hostages and assured her “he would stay” until the end of the siege. |
| Dawson was accidentally shot by police as they raided the building about 2.14am. | |
| The inquest continues. | The inquest continues. |