Last updated: December 25, 2014



Inquest into a fatal pub robbery hears the suspects were under police watch

Condell Park

Police and Ambulance at the High Flyer Hotel in Condell Park where Ali Antoni El Hafiane was shot by police. Picture: Bill Hearne Source: The Daily Telegraph

AN UNARMED policeman entered a Sydney pub to warn of an impending robbery moments before two men stormed in, cleaned out the tills with one being shot fatally as they made their escape, an inquest has heard.

The plain-clothes officer dropped to the floor when the two men burst in, seized a woman employee and ordered everyone to get down, the inquest heard today.

The officer was the only one in the pub to hit the floor.

Ali Antoni El Hafiane, 19, and Hassan Musleh, who was armed with a machete, robbed the High Flyer Inn at about 8.30pm on November 22, 2010, at Condell Park in Sydney's southwest.

El Hafiane, who was unarmed, was shot as the pair tried to escape.

The inquest has heard police failed to foil the robbery, even though they'd had the suspects under surveillance for hours before the incident.

Patron Gerard Smith was inside the High Flyer when the two men, wearing balaclavas, raced into the bar area.

''They commenced rummaging through one cash register each,'' Mr Smith told the inquest.

He said one of the men had hold of a female staffer as they stole cash.

''You were particularly concerned for their safety?'' Mr Smith was asked.

''Yeah, they were only two young girls,'' he replied.

Mr Smith said he was ''fearful'' of the situation, but he and other patrons did not drop to the floor when the intruders ordered them do so.

''You felt a bit threatened because you didn't know what the fellow with the machete was going to do,'' Mr Smith said.

The unarmed plain-clothes police officer had entered the bar to tell staff to shut down the premises just before the robbery, the inquest heard.

CCTV footage shows the offenders entering seconds later and the officer getting down on the floor while the pair rob the cash registers.

Another plain-clothes officer, who was not aware his colleague was there, entered the High Flyer and chased the men towards the back entrance.

A third plain-clothes officer entering from the rear confronted the pair and fired three shots.

El Hafiane was struck in the chest and died at the scene.