Lindt Café siege hero revealed for the first time after triumphant court win

The police officer who put an end to terrorist Man Monis’ siege of Sydney’s Lindt Cafe in 2014 can finally reveal his true identity after the courts lifted a suppression order on Friday.

For nearly ten years, the public knew Ben Besant only as ‘Officer A’, and he was restricted from showing his face and telling his story.

After a nine-year NSW Supreme Court Battle backed by Seven’s Spotlight, Mr Besant has won his ‘dignity’ back.

‘I’m never one to walk away from a fight, and I have been fighting for a long time to have my name returned to me,’ he told the program airing on Sunday.

NSW Police Tactical Operations hero Mr Besant led the final tactical assault on Monis in December 2014 and fired the shots which took down the terrorist.

The courts suppressed Mr Besant’s name for his protection, meaning he could never reveal what happened during Monis’ tense final moments in the Lindt Cafe building.

But the suppression order worsened Mr Besant’s post traumatic stress disorder and he claimed it cost him his career and his marriage.

‘It’s become such a big issue for me to be able to get my name back,’ he said.

Mr Besant and his tactical squad stormed the café to free hostages of Monis’ terrifying 17-hour siege

Mr Besant told the Sunday Telegraph he felt relieved after years living in the shadows.

‘I have not only been given my name back, but my dignity and my higher purpose in life,’ he said.

‘This is a victory not just for me but for our first responders and military personnel.

‘It means we can have a real discussion about PTSD and what has to be done to keep first responders well and in work.’

Two years ago, Mr Besant gave traumatic details of the siege, including how Sydney barrister Katrina Dawson went limp and died in his arms.

Bullet fragments pierced her body as police officers stormed the building.

Mr Besant wants to use his released identity to assist other first responders with their PTSD after the events of 2014

He said the lifted order returned his ‘higher purpose’ to him as he can talk openly about PTSD

Mr Besant and the tactical Alpha team rushed the front entrance of the building at 2.13am on December 16, 2014, after Monis fatally shot cafe manager Tori Johnson.

Monis was armed with a pump action shotgun and threatened to use a ‘backpack bomb’ during the 17-hour siege.

Mr Besant’s team bravely broke into the cafe, killing Monis and putting an end to his horrifying siege.

The tactical officer said he wanted to look other first responders grappling with PTSD in the eye and show them there is a way past the incident.

But in the coronial inquiry into the deaths of the day, his identity was blocked for his own protection.

The state coroner had told him she had no power to revoke the order even after nine years.

Mr Besant turned to the NSW Attorney-General and local MP Paul Scully, who promised to work with the legal power on the matter.

With the bureaucratic nightmare ended on Friday, Mr Besant can now focus on helping other Australian officers and service members.

He thanked the Channel Seven team, literary agents Dr Rob Goodfellow and Peter O’Neill, and Special Legal Counsel Richard Keegan for their support.