The decision to grant Man Haron Monis bail on an accessory to murder charge a year before the Lindt Café siege was "screaming out" for a Supreme Court appeal, after the prosecutor neglected to put a series of crucial matters before the court, an inquest has heard.
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But the solicitor from the NSW Director of Prosecutions elected not to apply for such a review and told the investigating police that it would have little chance of success.
"I satisfied myself that I was able to present the most cogent case that I could," the solicitor, who cannot be named, said of the December 2013 bail application at Penrith local court.
But the barristers representing the families of siege victims Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson, and the NSW Police took a different view.
Gabrielle Bashir, SC, for the Johnson family, listed a series of opportunities that the solicitor allegedly missed when trying to convince to magistrate to keep Monis in custody.
This included the fact that the self-styled sheik was on bail at the time of the alleged murder, that information suggesting that he was a risk of fleeing the country was never put before the court and that the solicitor elected not to watch a recorded police interview with a key witness that was relied on by Monis' lawyer.
"These were key submissions that you failed to make," Ms Bashir said.
"I accept that there were things I didn't say, I wouldn't use the term 'key'," the solicitor replied.
"Would you accept that they were relevant?" Ms Bashir continued.
"Yes," the prosecutor replied.
The inquest heard that, after the bail hearing, the officer in charge of the murder investigation was so furious about what had happened she could not bring herself to talk to the solicitor.
Another officer raised the prospect of reviewing the decision to the Supreme Court, but the solicitor indicated he was not prepared to do so.
"This matter was screaming out for a review wasn't it?" Ms Bashir asked
"No, it wasn't," the solicitor replied
Later an Imam and expert in Islamic studies, Associate Professor Mohamad Abdalla, cast doubt on Monis' claim to be a sheik or an ayatollah, describing his qualifications as "equivalent to an undergraduate degree in theology".
"I know for a fact that he had no standing or reputation among the majority of the Australian Muslim community," Dr Abdalla said.
"All of the imams I know had not heard from him until the recent tragic events in Sydney."
The hearing continues.
