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‘How Can You Make A Calculated Decision That You Wait For Someone To Die?’

The families of two hostages killed in the Lindt Cafe siege speak out

Two-and-a-half years on from Sydney’s Lindt Cafe siege, Katrina Dawson’s family is still processing the immeasurable grief and anger over her death. 

Ms Dawson, a barrister and mother-of-three, was killed by police gunfire when forces stormed the cafe in the early hours of the morning on December 16, 2014.

Speaking to Sarah Ferguson in an exclusive interview on Four Corners, Katrina’s mother, Jane Dawson, said her family felt let down by police.

“I think we all had this feeling that the police are there to protect us all and that they know what they’re doing — that’s one of the worst things about this is that we feel very let down,” she explained.

Ms Dawson attended the 18-month-long coronial inquest into the Lindt Café siege deaths of her daughter Katrina and hostage Tori Johnson.

“From the very beginning we decided that we had to go each day, that there had to be a human element injected into this,” she said.

“I think the Johnsons probably felt the same way, but we felt very strongly that Katrina should be represented and it was up to us to make sure of it.”

Tori Johnson’s mother, Rosie Connellan, also shared her anger over police tactics.

Police had opted to storm the scene only if gunman Man Haron Monis killed or seriously injured one of the 18 hostages. 

“I’ll never be able to understand how you can make a calculated decision that you wait for someone to die. It’s just beyond me,” Ms Connellan explained.

RELATED: Details Emerge Of Katrina Dawson’s Death At The Lindt Cafe

Tori was told by Monis to kneel in front of him and was executed at gunpoint, only then prompting police to intervene.

“We thought that Monis had killed Tori and, you know, it was relatively simple: the police had done everything possible and that was it,” Ms Connellan recounted.

“As it unfolded it was just, it was horrific. Every day we thought: ‘This can’t get worse’, and every day it got worse — what was coming out in evidence.”

This week, the NSW bar ensured Katrina’s incredible spirit and legacy will live on by introducing an award in her honour, the SMH reports.

The Siege: Part 1, airs tonight at 8.30pm on Four Corners on ABC TV.

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