The final Local Court appearance of Man Haron Monis before the Sydney cafe siege was, with the benefit of hindsight, an agonisingly missed opportunity to get him off the streets and behind bars.
When the 50-year-old fronted Penrith Local Court on October 10 this year, he was facing more than 30 charges of sexual and indecent assault and two counts of being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife.
He already had a conviction for sending offensive letters to the families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Yet court documents reveal that lawyers from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions consented to him remaining on bail.
That course of action stemmed from an earlier decision by police to file a second series of historic sexual abuse charges against Monis via a court attendance notice, rather than rearresting and charging him, a move that would have triggered a new bail application and a chance for DPP lawyers to request he be taken into custody.
The Summary of Reasons for Bail Decision states that Monis' bail was continued "by consent", an indication that prosecutors did not apply for his bail to be revoked.
Having heard no argument to the contrary, magistrate Dorelle Pinch allowed Monis to remain on bail.
Two months and five days later, Monis walked into the Lindt Chocolat Cafe with a shotgun and took 17 staff and customers hostage.
The documents reveal Ms Pinch found Monis was an unacceptable risk of "interfering with witnesses or evidence". This was almost certainly a shorthand reference to a previous bail application, in May this year, where Magistrate Joan Baptie released him from custody because she felt any risk could be mitigated by imposing conditions on him.
On Wednesday NSW Police put the blame firmly at the feet of the DPP.
"While police continued to hold the view the offender should not be released on bail, as indicated in the Fact Sheet, the DPP held the contrary view that in light of the court's previous position, bail would not be opposed," a police spokesman told Fairfax Media.
The bundle of court documents released to the media also show that in 2011 Monis told police he previously had access to a firearm when he worked as a "security officer".
"I had a licence, then I went and got another licence...I was shooting at the target," Monis said.
The interviewing officer asked him, "But is that firearms licence expired or still current?"
"No, of course that has been expired many years ago," Monis replied.
"So do you still have any access to firearms?" the officer asked.
"No, no," Monis replied.
Following a hearing Monis was found not guilty of stalking but two years later he was accused of inciting his partner Amirah Droudis to murder his former wife Noleen Hayson Pal.
Police say Ms Pal, 30, was stabbed repeatedly and then set alight in the stairwell of her Werrington home on April 21, 2013.
Six months later, in October, Monis was charged with inciting, procuring, aiding and counselling Ms Droudis to murder Ms Pal, who died between 4.15 and 4.30pm.
He was also charged with assisting and harbouring Ms Droudis after the murder.
A month later, in November, Ms Droudis was charged with murder.
The pair appeared in court on November 15, 2013 and Monis did not apply for bail and it was formally refused. He was granted bail on December 12, 2013, but he remained in custody as he was unable to meet his bail conditions.
The self-styled sheikh was also charged with sexually assaulting seven women under the guise of "spiritual healing" sessions over more than a decade.
Court documents show Monis was accused of dozens of sexual offences including sexual intercourse without consent, touching the complainants' breasts, and rubbing their bodies with oil between 2002 and 2014.
Monis was running "Spiritual Consultation", a registered business, and the alleged assaults took place in a number of suburbs around Sydney including Wentworthville, Burwood and Liverpool.
Monis, who was charged under his alias Mohammad Manteghi, was freed from custody after Soula Droudis, the mother of Amirah Droudis, posted $1000 bail.
In August 2013 he reluctantly pleaded guilty to 12 counts of using a postal service to send the "harassing or offensive" letters and was sentenced to a two-year good behaviour bond and 300 hours of community service.
Droudis pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting him.
