Lindt Cafe manager Tori Johnson was executed by gunman Man Haron Monis at the Lindt Cafe on December 16, 2014.

NSW Coroner Michael Barnes this week heard from Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins over three days and one senior negotiator who can’t be identified for legal reasons.

The inquest heard police should have been ordered to act sooner because there was a litany of signs that gunman Man Haron Monis was likely to kill.

At 2.03am, during the final moments of the siege, Monis fired a shot in the direction of six hostages as they escaped. Seconds later, a sniper saw hostage Tori Johnson ordered to his knees. He reported hostages lives were in danger and that he feared the cafe manager was about to be executed. Heavily armed police positioned outside the cafe stayed put. Six minutes passed until, at 2.09am, Monis fired a second shot that failed to hit anyone. Mr Johnson was still on his knees. The risk level had “skyrocketed” and the hostages inside knew it. Still, there was no movement from police. Tears fell from Mr Johnson’s eyes. He had been on his knees for 10 minutes when Monis pulled the trigger and executed him at 2.13am on December 16, 2014.

Gabrielle Bashir SC, counsel representing the family of Mr Johnson, said police had ample time to act before Mr Johnson was killed.

“It certainly wasn’t a short period of time that Tori Johnson was on his knees,” she said.

Tori Johnson was executed by Lindt Cafe siege gunman Man Haron Monis in December 2014. Picture: LinkedInSource:Supplied

Assistant Commissioner of the NSW Police Force, Mark Jenkins gave evidence for three days at the inquest. Picture: Dean Lewins/AAPSource:AAP

Ms Bashir said an emergency action plan to raid the cafe should have been immediately activated when the gunman fired his first shot at 2.03am.

A police emergency action plan is supposed to be triggered by death or serious injury or imminent death or serious injury.

Instead, police followed a ‘contain and negotiate’ strategy until manager Mr Johnson was shot dead at point blank range by Monis and the 17-hour siege was brought to a bloody end.

Mother and barrister Katrina Dawson died after being struck by a fragment of a police bullet fired in the following exchange.

Mr Jenkins was the police commander during the final hours of the siege but said the forward commander — who is yet to testify and can’t be identified for legal reasons — was responsible for making the call to initiate an EA.

Ms Bashir said Mr Jenkins “should have told the forward commander to immediately initiate the EA” when a shot was “fired inside the stronghold in the direction in which the hostages were running to make good their escape”.

“No I don’t agree with that,” Mr Jenkins said.

Mr Jenkins said police wanted to “understand as well as we could ... what that shot was about” before responding to it.

Ms Bashir: “Any shots fired within the stronghold risked serious injuries of hostages within the stronghold.”

Mr Jenkins: “Well shots that didn’t hit anyone don’t cause injuries so I’m not sure what your question is focused at there ... Certainly there would have been a desolation of the risk. There’s no doubt about that.”

Ms Bashir said the “danger factor for the remaining hostages ... skyrocketed” after the six hostages escaped and it was “no longer a controlled environment”.”

“Monis had given plenty of warning that hostages would die if there were further escapes, hadn’t he?” Ms Bashir asked.

Mr Jenkins: “He had.”

An armed police officer takes a photo on his mobile phone through a window at the Lindt Cafe during the siege. Picture: Toby ZernaSource:News Corp Australia

Monis was falsely understood to be carrying a bomb in his backpack at the time.

“The body bomb was a risk for the remaining hostages as well if you put that into the equation, wasn’t it?” Ms Bashir asked.

Mr Jenkins: “Absolutely it was ... we wanted to continue a contain and negotiate strategy for as long as possible and not commit to an EA or DA (deliberate action plan) unless it was absolutely positively necessary.”

The inquest heard Mr Jenkins was not aware of the sniper’s warning that it appeared Mr Johnson was going to be executed, 10 minutes before he was slain.

“Whilst you were listening to the (police) radio with tactical advisers did you hear (a sniper) call over the radio ... around 2am ... prior to that shot being fired at 2.03am, that they feared Monis was firstly going to execute a hostage?” Ms Bashir asked.

Mr Jenkins: “No I didn’t hear that.”

Ms Bashir: “Did you hear any call over that the situation was escalating?”

Mr Jenkins: “No, I didn’t hear that.”

TEXT MESSAGES WARNED OF WORSENING BEHAVIOUR

The inquest also heard that Mr Jenkins did not know Mr Johnson had earlier sent text messages about the gunman’s worsening behaviour to family members who immediately passed them onto police.

Barrister Michael O’Connell SC, counsel for Ms Dawson’s family, said Mr Johnson sent a text message to a family member at 1.43am, exactly 30 minutes before he was killed.

“At 1.43am, a text message was sent by Mr Johnson to his loved ones which was conveyed to police at 1.53am,” Mr O’Connell said.

Mr Johnson’s message read: “He’s (Monis) increasingly agitated, walks around when he hears a noise outside with a hostage in front of him. Wants to release one person in good faith, tell police.”

Mr Jenkins said he “ wasn’t aware of that text message”.

“I was aware of a call to the (police) media unit that Monis was looking to release one hostage,” he said.

Mr Johnson had sent another message to family earlier in the night, at 10pm.

It read: “I love you all, I’m still alive, very scared.”

Tori Johnson’s funeral at St Stephens Uniting church in Macquarie St, Sydney.Source:News Corp Australia

Mr Jenkins revealed he was in the dark about various pieces of crucial information during his command, including that he didn’t even have access to live footage during the siege despite most of Australia being able to view it from home.

He also revealed he didn’t have access to police logs and didn’t know the gunman fired a second gunshot before killing Mr Johnson until one and a half months ago, about 1.5 years after the siege.

MISSED CHANCES TO BARGAIN WITH THE GUNMAN

There were several missed opportunities to negotiate the release of hostages throughout the day, the inquest heard.

Monis had tasked hostage Selina Win Pe to call triple-0 and relay his demand for the lights outside the cafe in Martin Place to be turned off.

Ms Win Pe made the first call at 8.38pm and told police that hostages would be hurt if the demand wasn’t met.

Mr Jenkins said he wasn’t aware of the request until 45 minutes before the gunman killed Mr Johnson.

The lights were never turned off despite Ausgrid staffers on standby to carry out the task.

Mr Jenkins said he didn’t know the Ausgrid team had been made available to take orders from police.

The inquest also heard that desperate calls from hostages to negotiators went unanswered in the final hours of the siege because police didn’t have access to adequate resources.

Negotiation team leader “Reg” was quizzed on the stand over whether or not failing to meet the demand might have been a lost opportunity to diffuse Monis and bargain for the release of hostages.

Counsel assisting the inquest Jason Downing suggested that turning off the lights would have benefited everyone because it would have been more difficult for the gunman to see the hostages.

Reg said he would do some things differently in hindsight.

Whether or not Reg’s sentiment is likely to be echoed by NSW Coroner Michael Barnes in relation to the overall police handling of siege remains to be seen.

The findings are expected to be handed down later this year.

The inquest continues.