From hostage to hero

The morning of December 15, 2014 began like any other. The air was warm and Sydney’s financial district was decorated with red and green banners. Christmas was only 10 days away. The city was humming in anticipation of the festive break. Among the workers and busy shoppers were Louisa Hope and her mother, Robin, in town for a meeting. Four days prior, Louisa had been in Dallas, Texas, and was considering extending her stay, but her mother was dealing with a legal matter. “So I came home early,” she recalls. They debated whether to have breakfast at their hotel or go out, and decided they’d eat at the Lindt Café. It was a decision that would change the course of their lives.

Earlier that morning, a dangerous and deluded man named Man Haron Monis had also entered the Lindt Café. He sat in wait, watching as customers came and went. As Louisa, then 52, and Robin, 73, finished their breakfast, Monis gave café manager Tori Johnson a note that said Australia was under attack from Islamic State. The doors were locked, sealing 10 customers and eight staff members inside. What followed was described by then NSW coroner Michael Barnes as “terror that is hard to imagine”.

Monis stood, raised a sawn-off shotgun and said he had a bomb. Distressed hostages stood at windows, holding up black flags bearing an Islamic creed. Monis told Louisa she was his secretary and ordered her to dial Australia’s emergency number. He wanted to speak with then Prime Minister Tony Abbott,