Commissioner Andrew Scipione and Catherine Burn who are two of Australia’s highest ranking police officers have given blatant perjured evidence under oath at the Sydney Siege Inquest hearing in Sydney. Outside the Inquest today (Wednesday 17/8/16) I asked Deputy Commissioner Burn if she was aware perjury is a criminal offence. She refused to answer for obvious reasons which I captured in the below video.
The police have a lot to answer for in failings during the Sydney Siege. But it is not the front line police on the ground who risked their lives trying to save the hostages that have much to answer for as by and large they did the best they could and can hold their heads up high. It is the most senior police officers who failed to give the police under their command the resources and support they needed that have a lot to answer for and should be sacked.
The two key people I am referring to who are Commissioner Andrew Scipione and Deputy Commissioner (Specialist Operations) Catherine Burn who both tried to avoid giving evidence. Scipione’s lawyers argued he shouldn’t have to appear because he gave no orders during the Sydney Siege operation. In Scipione’s defence you wouldn’t expect the Commissioner to take control of a Siege. Even so there were enough failings during the Siege with resources which is his responsibility and a lot of his evidence was not believable at all so Scipione has to take responsibility and should go.
That leaves Catherine Burn who overseas “Specialist Operations” which includes counter-terrorism and sieges like the Sydney Siege and it is well-known she is seeking the top job as Commissioner. One example of her failure is that the frontline police did not have the specialist communications/command truck that they are meant to use in major sieges. Why?
“the purpose-built truck had been damaged by weather in 2011 and hadn’t been fixed as of December 2014“
Instead the “negotiation team of up to five people was crammed into the gaming manager’s officer at the NSW Leagues Club, where police were stationed as the siege unfolded.“
“The phone number of the office was provided to the hostages but it would divert to somewhere else in the club if a negotiator was on the phone.“
“On one occasion, a call believed to be from a hostage was answered by an officer in another part of the building.“
“The negotiation team also had only one mobile phone between them.“ (Click here to read more)
Something like not having the truck for use should lead to sacking people at the highest level and that ultimately means Deputy Commissioner Burn. Anyone can go into a shop and buy ten mobile phones yet the negotiation team only had one mobile phone which is a bad joke.
There are many other failings that Burn also needs to take responsibility for but the worst thing is the fact that Burn deliberately destroyed evidence. Anyone with knowledge of these sorts of situations where people die know that it is almost guaranteed that there will be some sort of inquiry or coroner’s inquest and that all communication will be relevant evidence.
So what did Deputy Commissioner Burn do? She deleted text messages for the day of the Sydney Siege and the following day as she claims she was told she would not have to give evidence. (Click here to read more) To me that is not believable as she has responsibility for sieges in the police force.
This leads to the question that I asked Deputy Commissioner Burn after she gave evidence at the Sydney Siege Inquest which is in the video below. (Wednesday 17th August 2016)
As soon as I asked the question “Commissioner Burn, are you aware that perjury is a criminal offence” the police surrounded me. They didn’t like it. In the video you can see the uniformed officer on the right head straight towards me as soon as I asked the question and there were two plainclothes officers closer to me. Initially they overreacted but then they realised it and backed off.
Cover-up by NSW Director of Public Prosecutions
The police failings are something that needs to be investigated and the problems fixed. But it is why Man Haron Monis was out on bail that is the biggest issue and it looks like we will never get to the truth. I wrote last year:
“The instigator of the Sydney Siege Man Haron Monis was facing charges of accessory to murder and over 40 charges of sexual assault and indecent assault against 7 women when he instigated the Sydney Siege. He clearly should not have been out on bail. Vital documents and emails that would shed light on why he was allowed to be on bail have never been revealed and names of the prosecutors and police involved have also been withheld.“
The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb SC is the person who refuses to release emails between his office and police which reveal why they failed to keep Man Haron Monis in jail awaiting trial. The NSW Government should sack him and release the emails.
“The most obvious reason for the Sydney Siege cover-up is to conceal corruption in the legal fraternity. As we now know from a recent leaked police report the Mafia have been bribing NSW judges $millions to get reduced sentences. (Click here to read more) If the mafia are doing that then basic logic says that it is quite likely prosecutors can also be bribed to keep people out of jail on bail which looks like what happened in the Sydney Siege / Man Haron Monis tragedy.“ (Click here to read more)
I did not get an opportunity to question Commissioner Andrew Scipione as I had left the hearing when he gave evidence and he has finished giving evidence now. The Sydney Siege Inquest report should hopefully be published this year.
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