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AAP
AAP
National
Laine Clark

Counter-terrorism team 'not told of Abdi bail breach'

Danni McCann said he wasn't notified about Raghe Abdi's bail breach until after he was shot dead. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

On his day off, the counter-terrorism case officer for Raghe Abdi was out Christmas shopping when he received a phone call.

Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Danni McCann was notified that a man who had been shot dead by police on a highway south of Brisbane that morning may be Abdi.

Queensland joint counter-terrorism team's Det McCann had organised with the company that monitored Abdi's tracking device - Broadspectrum - to be notified about any bail breaches by the 22-year-old.

However, the phone call he received from a detective on December 17, 2020 about the shooting was his first indication that Abdi had breached bail before what was later described as a "terrorism event".

Investigations suggested Abdi fatally stabbed elderly couple Maurice and Zoe Antill at their home before he was shot the next morning on the Logan Motorway wielding a knife and yelling "Allahu Akbar".

At the time Abdi was being monitored by the counter-terrorism team, amid an investigation into whether he was preparing to be involved in a foreign incursion after being intercepted trying to leave Brisbane Airport for Somalia in 2019.

Det McCann had identified deficiencies in a previous operation when someone was being monitored with an ankle bracelet while on bail, an inquest into the December 2020 deaths was told.

So when Abdi received bail in September 2020, Det McCann contacted Broadspectrum which monitored tracking devices and provided alerts to Queensland Police at the time.

Det McCann provided his contact details to the company so that he could be notified should Abdi breach bail, enabling him to have enough time to deploy his team and respond accordingly.

He forwarded his work phone and email, even providing his personal mobile number.

"I was trying to overcome those deficiencies (in previous operation) in an effort to get an understanding that something may have occurred and ... get in front of that if ... absolutely necessary," Det McCann told Coroner Stephanie Gallagher on Wednesday.

He later received two "zone violation" text and email notifications regarding Abdi's ankle bracelet but no phone calls.

When he rang Broadspectrum to inquire why he not been called, he was told a violation had been activated by a "cell tower detection problem" and Abdi hadn't left his residence.

"I was reassured ... I would be phoned should there be any true zone violation and or anything else in relation to Mr Abdi," Det McCann said.

On December 16 Abdi left his home and removed his ankle bracelet, burying it in bushland south of Brisbane.

Investigations suggested the Antills were killed that night before Abdi was shot dead early the next morning.

Det McCann had time off after working nine days straight so did not see Abdi's ankle monitor's 3.25pm device tamper alert on his work email on December 16.

The call he received from the detective the next morning was his first indication that Abdi had breached bail.

Det McCann said he had forwarded his concerns about the procedures relating to the counter-terrorism team to his superiors and ethical standards investigators.

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