Sydney siege inquest

The Sydney siege inquest was an inquest into the deaths that occurred during the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis, which was instigated by Man Haron Monis. The inquest started on 29 January 2015, had more than 100 witnesses and was run in blocks into 2016.

In Australia, an inquest is mandatory whenever a person dies during a police operation. The inquest was presided over by the New South Wales State Coroner, Michael Barnes, and its task was "to determine how the [three] deaths occurred, the factors that contributed to them and whether they could have been prevented".

Two unusual features of the inquest were its detailed opening which provided an account of events in order to dispel speculation and its focus on social media, believed to be merited by police because of its significant role.

The hearings were divided into blocks of a couple of weeks. The first, started on 25 May 2015, queried people who had known Monis in order to get background information. The second started on 17 August 2015 and considered Monis's bail application. Further blocks that investigate how the police dealt with the siege itself were withheld from the public "in the interests of the families".

On 20 May, the Crown Prosecutor wrote a letter arguing that the question of Monis' bail was beyond the scope of the inquest. This was ruled on by Coroner Barnes on 5 June. Five documents relating to Monis' bail were kept secret on the grounds of professional legal privilege.

The findings of the inquest were released on 24 May 2017.

The first two-week block started on 25 May 2015, taking evidence from people who knew Monis. Coroner Barnes said that a central question is, "Was Monis a so-called lone wolf prosecuting an ISIS-style terror attack, or a deranged individual pursuing a personal private grievance in a public manner?"

Hostage Jarrod Morton-Hoffman told police that a woman would be shot if they did not move cars visible from the window. (It is unclear whether the cars were moved.)

Morton-Hoffman helped calm down an increasingly agitated Monis multiple times throughout the 17-hour ordeal. He described him as 'a very dangerous toddler.' 'He seemed unstable, emotional, not very logical. I think 'volatile' is the word to describe him. ' 'In fact he did not seem to be following any logic — his demands changed with the wind,' he said. 'He was driven largely by emotion and anger and he was easy to manipulate.' At one point, Morton-Hoffman even offered to paint Monis an Islamic State flag if he let a pregnant woman go, to no avail.

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