For Thomas Zinn, the pain of losing his partner, Tori Johnson, in the Lindt Café siege is just as raw today as it was in 2014.
Mr Zinn, along with other family members of Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson, were at court today to hear the findings of a coronial inquest into the Sydney siege. Ms Dawson and Mr Johnson both lost their lives during the horrific 17-hour long hostage crisis in December, 2014.
NSW Coroner Michael Barnes found that gunman Man Haron Monis was solely responsible for both deaths, news.com.au reports.
“I cannot stress too heavily that the deaths and injuries that occurred as a result of the siege were not the fault of the police,” the coroner said. “All of the blame for those rest on Monis. He created the intensely dangerous situation.”
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The coroner described Monis’ harrowing actions to the packed courtroom.
“He created the intensely dangerous situation, he maliciously executed Tori Johnson, he barricaded himself into a corner of the cafe and his actions or police to enter the cafe in circumstances where the risk of hostages being wounded or killed was very high,” Mr Barnes said.
However, the coroner did criticise police for the time it took to storm the café after Monis fired the first shot, ABC reports.
Speaking outside the court, Mr Zinn shared his heartbreak over the death of Mr Johnson.
“It has been a very long, emotional and frustrating process for all of us,” he said.
“The pain deep in our hearts from losing Tori is as strong now as it was in December 2014 — everybody who knew Tori would agree that we lost an angel that night.”
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