Lindt café sniper sues NSW Police over "failure" to save lives

The chief sniper in the Lindt café siege is set to sue the NSW Police Force for negligence, alleging he and fellow officers were prevented from doing their jobs and that the lives of Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson could have been saved.

The officer, who was only identified as Sierra 3-1, claimed in a 30-page affidavit that he has suffered psychological trauma due to the decisions taken by his superiors during the December 2014 siege in Sydney.

He lodged a complaint about the senior officers to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commissioner after the 2016 inquest, but the complaint was dismissed.

“The way we trained for incidents like this is for the sniper co-ordinator to be in the command post,” he said. “I asked to perform that role on this occasion, but I didn’t.”

A relative said making a complaint and taking a civil action was a “big decision” for the chief sniper, who was medically discharged from the force in 2017. 

“He believes Tori Johnson’s life was saveable and says that in his affidavit,” the relative said.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the civil action was lodged on April 12 in the NSW District Court for a one-day hearing scheduled for next year.

The case is expected to re-examine many aspects of the siege, which saw 17 people being taken hostage by gunman Man Haron Monis.

The 50-year-old terrorist was killed in the siege along with 34-year-old Lindt café manager Tori Johnson and 38-year-old barrister Katrina Dawson.