Lindt Cafe siege hero revealed for the first time
The name of the hero police officer who killed terrorist Man Haron Monis ten years ago during the Lindt Cafe siege in Sydney has finally been revealed.
For the last decade, Ben Besant was only known as Officer A, his name suppressed for his own protection.
Now, he can finally tell his story publicly for the first time, following a court decision to lift his suppression order on Friday.
“I’m never one to walk away from a fight, and I have been fighting for a long time to have my name returned to me,” he told told Seven’s Spotlight program.
The former NSW Police Tactical Operations Unit Officer led the assault and fired the final shots that took Monis down.
While the suppression order was for his own protection, Besant said that not being able to tell anyone about the moment aggravated his PTSD, that cost him his career, marriage and home.
“It’s become such a big issue for me to be able to get my name back,” he said.
The siege lasted 17-hours and Besant told Spotlight that it took 17 shots to bring down the terrorist.
His mission now is to help other frontline responders deal with the effects of PTSD.
Besant added that having his identity back will help him deal with what has become the most difficult day of the year for him.
The decision comes two weeks before the 10-year anniversary of the siege.
On the morning of December, 15, 2014, Monis took eight staff members and 10 customers hostage inside the popular cafe on Martin Place, Sydney.
Police quickly evacuated the area and surrounded the building, as the terrorist claimed he was armed and had a bomb in his backpack.
At 2.13am the next morning the cafe’s manager, Tori Johnson, 34, was shot dead by Monis, promoting police to storm the building.
Barrister and Sydney mother-of-three, Katrina Dawson, 38, died when she was hit by fragments of police bullets.
Images: Seven/Spotlight