A coroner has criticised the time it took Australian police to storm the Lindt Cafe after the first shot was fired during the 2014 Sydney siege.
Photos showing Katrina Dawson (L) and Tori Johnson (R) sit amongst the floral tributes left outside the Lindt cafe in Sydney's Martin Place, one week after the siege. Photo: AFP
New South Wales coroner Michael Barnes today handed down his findings from an inquest into the deadly hostage situation.
Gunman Man Haron Monis fired his weapon at 2:03am on 16 December, 2014.
"The 10 minutes that lapsed without decisive action by police was too long," Mr Barnes said.
"Tori Johnson was executed in the meantime before the decision to enter the cafe was made."
Mr Johnson and another hostage, Katrina Dawson, were killed in the siege, which began on December 15 and lasted more than 16 hours. Monis also died.
Mr Barnes, however, made it clear Monis - not the New South Wales police - was solely to blame for the deaths and injuries sustained in the siege.
The probe was among the longest and most complex in the state's history, with 23 weeks of public hearings and hundreds of individual pieces of evidence.
Mr Barnes delivered his findings in John Maddison Tower, just 1km from Martin Place, where Monis took the 18 people captive.
Monis shot and killed Mr Johnson in the final minutes of the siege, while Ms Dawson was killed by fragments of a police bullet.
Mr Barnes said the responsibility for the deaths rested with Monis, who "initiated an extremely dangerous situation".
- ABC
