The commander in charge of the deadly Lindt Cafe siege has been accused of being slow to take action and of bungling terrorist incidents in the past.
The lawyer for slain Lindt manager Tori Johnson's family went on the attack at an inquest on Wednesday over the decision not to storm the building until after the cafe boss was shot dead.
Gabrielle Bashir SC said police could have stormed the cafe hours before the siege reached its deadly conclusion.
Ms Bashir said by the time Man Haron Monis fired his first shot inside the cafe at 2.03am on December 16, 2014, the danger to the hostages who remained had skyrocketed.
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She put to Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins, who was in control at the time, that when Mr Johnson was forced to his knees by the gunman at 2.06am, it was clear his life was at stake.
"I think it goes without saying that Tori Johnson's life was at stake," Mr Jenkins replied.
Mr Jenkins said he did not think the first shot was enough for police to storm the building, because triggering the action could have risked the safety and lives of hostages.
Police did not storm the cafe until after Mr Johnson was shot dead from point-blank range at 2.13am.
Lawyer Katrina Dawson was also killed in the raid, while Monis also died.
In a fiery exchange, Ms Bashir accused Mr Jenkins of mishandling the siege and making mistakes in earlier terror incidents.
"It's the case, isn't it, that you have misjudged the level of risk in a terrorist incident before?" she said, which Mr Jenkins denied.
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Mr Jenkins then admitted receiving managerial counselling over the botched arrest of Sydney terrorist Omar Baladjam in 2005.
Baladjam opened fire on four officers - injuring one - who were not warned by Mr Jenkins that the known terrorist cell member may be dangerous, and were not wearing bulletproof vests.
"It's a fact that you failed to appreciate the risk of dangerousness previously ... and you failed to do so in the early hours of December 16," Ms Bashir said.
"No, I don't accept that at all," Mr Jenkins replied.
Earlier, he was repeatedly pressed to reveal whether he would have supported storming the cafe when Monis first opened fire if he knew the gunman shot at police, and not in the air, as officers first believed.
"If there was unequivocal evidence that the shot was at hostages then that would have raised the level to an imminent threat of serious injury or death, and that would have warranted an EA (emergency action)," he told the inquest.
But later, Mr Jenkins insisted storming the cafe was never his decision to make, saying it was better left to those much closer to the action.
"It's the forward commander's responsibility to call an EA," he said.
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