Despite red flags and a terrorist brother, Sisto's killer went unwatched

This was published 1 year ago

Despite red flags and a terrorist brother, Sisto's killer went unwatched

His brother had plotted to shoot up Federation Square, his name had been flagged as a radicalised Islamist, his passport had been cancelled.

But Hassan Khalif Shire Ali was not being monitored by police when he loaded his ute with gas cylinders on November 9 and drove into the city intent on mass murder.

Arriving in the afternoon, Shire Ali set the ute alight on Bourke Street – hoping it would explode – and went on a stabbing rampage that killed beloved restaurateur Sisto Malaspina and injured two others.

Police confront Hassan Khalif Shire Ali in Bourke Street last year.

Police confront Hassan Khalif Shire Ali in Bourke Street last year.

Despite the red flags, which included apparent serious mental health issues and substance abuse, federal police did not believe Shire Ali, 30 was a serious threat.


Wednesday's guilty plea from Shire Ali's younger brother, Ali Khalif Shire Ali, for the planned New Year's Eve massacre in 2017 has revived questions about how the Bourke Street killer was able to stay under the radar.

Authorities had cancelled Hassan Khalif Shire Ali's passport in 2015 after ASIO had received information he planned to travel to Syria.

His criminal history dated back years and included driving without a licence, and getting behind the wheel of unregistered cars. His bail was extended despite him repeatedly failing to appear in court.

It was also known among his family and others close to him that Shire Ali had mental issues. He believed he was being chased by "unseen people with spears" and had grown  increasingly agitated and delusional in the weeks before the attack.

The Bourke Street scene.

The Bourke Street scene.Credit:Stuart Gaut

He had a troubled relationship with his family and his life had spun out of control.


At the time of the attack, he was also trying to repair his failing marriage. He was known to visit his wife, who was living separately at Meadow Heights, at all hours of night.

Imam Isse Musse, a close friend of Shire Ali's family, said they were hopeful his situation would improve but his behaviour before the attacks had given them fresh cause for alarm.

"[He was] complaining he was being chased by unseen people," Imam Musse said at the time. "They don't know if he's taking drugs or what."

Police were grilled at a press conference the day after the Bourke Street attack.

“Was that a mistake?” a reporter asked Australian Federal Police’s assistant commissioner for terrorism Ian McCartney.

He replied it was a “reality check” but “this is a complex and challenging business”.

Some 240 Australians had had their passports cancelled on the ASIO advice at the time of Shire Ali's attack. The fact he was one of them shows he had been actively monitored by the agency in the past.

But in the years since the cancellation, he hadn't crossed any threshold to merit a closer investigation, either by ASIO alone or by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team, comprising members of Victoria Police, AFP and ASIO.

Rodger Shanahan, a terrorism analyst with the Lowy Institute, said at the time much of the data on Shire Ali would have consisted of his computer and phone activity.

“A lot of it is their electronic footprint, what they do over an extended period of time,” Dr Shanahan said.

“In three years worth of looking at this guy, who’s he in contact with? What does he say to people?”

Most Viewed in National