Prison nurse cleared Monis' mental health

A nurse who saw Man Haron Monis in prison eight months before the Sydney siege gave the future gunman a clean mental health check without seeing his file.

Man Haron Monis

The inquest into the Sydney siege will hear further evidence of gunman Man Haron Monis's past. (AAP)

A mental health nurse did not see gunman Man Haron Monis' prison record or know about serious charges against him when he was assessed as having "no mental health issues" eight months before the Lindt Cafe siege.

The inquiry into the siege has also heard that Monis had posted numerous ranting messages on his website and had his Facebook account banned for posting offensive material three days before the December 2014 siege.

A day after a psychiatrist testified Monis was treated for chronic schizophrenia in 2010, clinical nurse consultant Marco Rec told the siege inquest on Thursday he had to rely on Monis self-reporting the charges he was facing during a mental health assessment at Sydney's Silverwater jail in April 2014.

Monis told Mr Rec he was charged with common assault rather than 43 counts of sexual assault and one of accessory to the murder of his wife.

Mr Rec said he never had access to prisoners' Corrective Service records when making assessments.

"We've always been told in Justice Health not to delve into their criminal things because we could be called to court," Mr Rec said.

Monis was taken to Silverwater after being arrested in April 2014 on sexual assault charges.

He was doing community service at the time of the arrest for offensive letters he had written to the families of dead Australian soldiers.

The admitting prison mental health nurse Anna Grigore recommended Monis for psychiatric review after he became intimidating when asked about his charges, and seemed flippant and unconcerned about their seriousness.

"I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong with him, on what worried me about him," she said.

Monis, who had seen two psychiatrists and a psychologist since 2005 and taken medication for schizophrenia and anxiety, told Mr Rec he had never taken psychiatric medication, seen a mental health professional or sought help for mental health problems.

In stark contrast to his repeated statements to doctors, Monis told Mr Rec he had no fears he was being followed or watched.

Mr Rec said he would have been more concerned if he had known the seriousness of Monis's charges but could not recall if he followed up with any questions when Monis rated his day as a "10 out of 10".

After an assessment lasting less than an hour, Monis's file was marked "no mental health issues".

Monis was released on bail on May 27, 2014, less than seven months before he took 18 people hostage in central Sydney.

Police cyber investigators trawling through the online activity of Monis discovered his Facebook account was suspended days before the Sydney siege for violating policies banning hateful, threatening or obscene material.

Examination of Monis's email, YouTube and social media accounts has also revealed he was in contact with his adult daughter in Iran, gave approval for her to be married and wanted her to come to Australia.

Detective Senior Constable Murray Northey said investigations have not yet found any evidence Monis was in direct contact with terrorist group Islamic State.

The court heard Monis posted a ranting message on his website, SheikhHaron.com, in October 2014, in which he claimed sexual assault charges against him were political and likened himself to online activist Julian Assange.

The inquest continues on Friday.


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Source: AAP


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