By Ava Benny-Morrison
A senior police officer says he did not make a connection that NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione was interfering with the management of the Lindt cafe siege when the commissioner ordered a hostage YouTube video to be taken down.
Just before midnight on December 15, 2014, acting Deputy Commissioner Jeff Loy, who was in charge of the emergency response to the siege, received an email from Mr Scipione about a YouTube video that had been posted online.
NSW Police acting Deputy Commissoner Jeff Loy, left, arrives at the Lindt cafe siege inquest on Monday.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Throughout the 17-hour siege, gunman Man Haron Monis directed the hostages to make videos and social media posts reciting his demands.
"Let's get it pulled down from YouTube immediately," Mr Scipione wrote in the email to Mr Loy, Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins and a public affairs officer.
"I'll leave it to you and others."
The inquest heard on Monday that such a move could have had consequences inside the hostage stronghold. Monis had already grown frustrated that his demands were not being met.
Mr Loy is the first of three of the state's most senior officers to give evidence at the Martin Place siege inquest following requests from the families of slain hostages Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson.
It had previously been submitted by a barrister for the police that there would be little use calling Mr Scipione, Mr Loy and Deputy Commissioner Cath Burn to give evidence at the inquest because they did not give any orders, directions or provide any guidance relating to how police responded to the fatal siege.
Regardless, the trio will be questioned this week on whether they had any involvement in the police operation around the siege more than 18 months ago.
When counsel assisting the coroner Jason Downing asked whether the removal of a YouTube video would be an operational decision, Mr Loy agreed.
"Yes, that's correct," Mr Loy replied.
Mr Downing asked Mr Loy if he thought it was unusual that the Commissioner of Police was making the request.
"At the time I didn't make that connection that the commissioner was interfering with operations," Mr Loy said.
Mr Loy said the police commander at the time was already trying to have the YouTube video removed when that email came through.
It was also revealed in the NSW Coroner's Court that NSW Police technology specialists had not been able to recover Ms Burn's deleted text messages following the siege.
Ian Freckelton, QC, counsel for the police, said information had been requested from the telco carriers but that had not born fruit.
One of the most contentious issues at the inquest is whether the police ought to have launched a "deliberate action plan" - or "DA" - to bring the siege on December 15 and 16, 2014, to an end.
A DA involved the police carrying out a surprise assault on the hostage stronghold to catch the offender off guard.
Eventually it was an "emergency action plan" - or "EA" - prompted by the execution of a hostage, that brought the siege to an end.
However, the inquest heard on Monday that there was approval for the EA to be triggered if a shot was fired inside the cafe.
While Mr Loy confirmed this, he said it was not a "blind trigger".
"It's not a blind trigger where you have something happen and you react blindly to it ... it is still an informed ... decision," he said.
Monis fired a shot inside the cafe at 2.03am as a group of hostages escaped but police believed it was fired deliberately above their heads.
Ten minutes later, Monis executed Mr Johnson, prompting police to storm the cafe.
The inquest continues.