The Lindt Cafe siege is one of Australia’s most infamous crimes. A terrorist took ten customers and eight employees hostage back in December 2014.

The Sydney siege resulted in a 16-hour standoff, ending when officers from the NSW Police Tactical Operations Unit – or the TOU - stormed the cafe.

In this episode of Crime Insiders | Detectives, Brent Sanders sits down with Ben Besant, the police officer who led the police operation storming the cafe.

A warning: this episode contains descriptions of extreme violence and suicidal ideation.

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Without the internet, police were unable to track offender behaviour, and heavily relied on the testimony of victim-survivors.

These interviews were crucial, and required care and empathy, as one misstep, and evidence could be lost and a victim survivor left unheard.

Former detective Andrew Patterson was part of a special task force investigating paedophiles in Perth, and was the one who spoke to hundreds of victim-survivors... One morning, he received information about a sexual predator, and descriptions of an underground chamber with shiny chrome walls. He and his team set about investigating the offender, and finding survivors.

Andrew sat down with host Brent Sanders to explain this case, and others from his impressive career.

If you or anyone you know needs help:

• Lifeline (Crisis support and suicide prevention) 13 11 14
• 1800 Respect (National sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line) 1800 737 732
• Men's Referral Service (National counselling, information and referral service for men looking to change their behaviour) 1300 766 491
• Full Stop Australia (National violence and abuse trauma counselling and recovery Service) 1800 385 578

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What secrets do documents hide—and how are they uncovered? From forged wills to counterfeit passports, the world of document examination is a high-stakes game of detection and deception.

No one knows this better than Justin Watt, a forensic document examiner with the Department of Home Affairs.

In this episode of Crime Insiders | Forensics, hosted by Kathy Fox, Justin unravels how clues invisible to the naked eye busted a serial bank robber, what your handwriting can and can’t reveal about you, and what it takes to fake a passport.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.