ON Monday afternoon, a man in his 50s, accompanied by a teenage girl, arrived at Parliament House in Sydney wanting to see Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham.
The man was calm and, upon being told by Mr Buckingham that he could not help him with his legal inquiry, he left quietly.
Less than a day later, police will allege the man brought Sydney’s western CBD to a standstill for nearly 12 hours, barricading himself in a legal office in Parramatta with the girl and threatening to blow up the building if police did not meet his long list of demands.
The drama began just before 9am yesterday when the man, who cannot be identified, stormed into Arthur Phillip Chambers, saying he wanted to speak to a particular lawyer.
When a legal clerk told the man he had the wrong office, he searched another floor of the building before returning and allegedly making the bomb threat.
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Police will allege the man threw a book at reception and then yelled out: “Phone the attorney-general and (the lawyer) and tell them I’ve got a bomb in my backpack.”
Witnesses said the girl appeared shocked by the man’s behaviour.
The man left the reception area, knocking over a vase, and the clerk called police.
The building on George Street, across the road from Parramatta Courthouse, was evacuated along with the neighbouring offices.
Streets were cordoned off, including one of Parramatta’s busiest, as police negotiators attempted to convince the man to give himself up.
Assistant Commissioner Denis Clifford said the man made demands, but refused to reveal what they were.
Just before 1pm, the man allegedly smashed open a window of the office, held a telephone receiver through the gap and yelled at police as he threw a note to the street below.
He was also seen wearing a barrister’s wig, which he appeared to spit on.
Riot police entered the building about 2pm as their colleagues assumed sniper positions in the adjacent court building.
Shortly before 8pm, riot squad police entered the building carrying ramrods, chainsaws and axes. At 8.15pm, the girl’s screams could be heard as she was hustled out of the building. She was placed on a stretcher in an ambulance. A few minutes later, police entered the room and the man was arrested.
Mr Clifford said negotiations had begun to break down and police had no choice but to force entry.
Police said this morning there was no evidence of any explosives in the man’s backpack.
The 52-year-old man taken to Parramatta police station, where he was interviewed and charged with seven offences.
These include taking and detaining a person with intent to obtain advantage, giving false information to police, remaining in a building with intent to commit an indictable offence, common assault and destroying property.
The man, from Orange in central-western NSW, was refused bail and will appear in Parramatta local court today.
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