Just how was the man who stabbed six people in an Auckland supermarket radicalised?
By Finn Blackwell of RNZ
That will be a key question as the next two phases of the coronial Inquest into the death of Ahamed Samsudeen gets underway.
Samsudeen was shot dead by police in LynnMall after stabbing shoppers at a Woolworths supermarket.
He had taken a knife from the store's shelves and stabbed six people. Another person was injured trying to stop him.
Samsudeen's rampage ended after he was shot 12 times by police.
He had been granted refugee status in 2013, was identified by the SIS as a terrorist threat in early 2017, and was under surveillance at the time of the attack on September 3, 2021.
Opening phase two of the inquest, coroner Marcus Elliott laid out the road map for the next few weeks, which would also cover phase three.
He said they would examine issues from 2016, all the way through to the day of the attack.
"We will address whether various things contributed to Mr Samsudeen in becoming radicalised, such as the fact that he was in custody on remand for over four years, that he was segregated for 17 months, and the standard of mental health care and religious and cultural support that he received in prison."
Samsudeen's actions on the day of the attack appeared to have been the result of him becoming radicalised towards violent extremism, Elliott said.
"There is no evidence that he was on the path to radicalisation before he came to New Zealand in 2011 or during his early years in this country."
There was, however, evidence of Samsudeen's radicalisation by March 2016 at the latest, he said.
Whether or not the action or inaction of Government agencies contributed to his radicalisation, or if there was an opportunity for officials to intervene and divert him from his path will also be looked at.
At the time of the attack, Samsudeen was staying at a mosque, following his release from prison in July 2021.
A coordinated review found the mosque was not fully informed about the risk Samsudeen posed, and were not given sufficient information to support him.
"The review concluded that members of the community should have been more fully informed of the risks involved," Elliott said.
Another aspect being scrutinised by the Coroner was Samsudeen's attitude towards women.
Coroner Elliott said there was evidence in the time after his 2021 release from prison, and leading up to the attack, Samsudeen acted inappropriately towards a police officer and his lawyer.
"There is evidence that he became fixated, that he communicated inappropriately, refusing to desist when asked, and that he engaged in stalking and harassment, all of which resulted in much distress."
Counsel assisting the coroner, Erin McGill, said, in particular, the inquest would look at what actions Samsudeen took towards women in the period leading up to the attack which may have indicated a risk or heightened risk that he would cause harm to any person.
"How was Mr Samsudeen's behaviour towards women in the period leading up to the attack taken into account by police and corrections?" she said.
"Firstly, in the threat assessment or risk profile in the period leading up to the attack, and secondly, in managing the risk that he would carry out an attack."
McGill said whether Samsudeen's attitude or actions towards women, or any steps taken to address the risk resulting from this, contributed to the attack was something for the inquest to consider.
That included consideration of triggers for the attack, the timing of the attack, and the fact that some of the victims were women, McGill said.
'Never had an offender that required such management'
The coroner heard from a probation officer, who cannot be named.
He helped manage Samsudeen's release from prison in July 2021, as well as his time in the community.
The officer described Samsudeen as a difficult person to manage.
"I have never had an offender that required such management," he said.
He noted Samsudeen's change in attitude during his incarceration.
To begin with he was respectful and polite to prison staff, but by the time the officer first visited Samsudeen, that had drastically changed.
The officer said Samsudeen had become verbally abusive to officers, using racial slurs and even throwing urine and faeces at them. The officer said he also provoked them into physical confrontations.
"As a practitioner, I know that building a relationship is essential for change, and the challenges before me was to first establish a connection with him," he said.
"This required earning his trust, something difficult, as he does not trust anyone, particularly those in the position of authority."
Samsudeen had an extreme fixation with jihad during a meeting in prison with both his probation officer and the chairperson of the mosque Samsudeen would later stay at in the community.
That was a concern to both of them.
Samsudeen's time in the community was also mired in difficulty.
"Mr Samsudeen's engagement while reporting was mixed, some days he was polite and engaged in discussion about faith," the officer said.
"Other days, he was aggressive and verbally abusive, he regularly made complaints about us doing a poor job."
His probation officer said Samsudeen would offer to engage with staff if he was given something in return.
This would typically occur when he was asked to meet with psychologists, which he would only agree to in exchange for electronic devices, the probation officer said.
"He would offer consent and then revoke it once he got the thing he wanted."
He was questioned by the lawyer representing Samsudeen's family, Fletcher Pilditch KC, whether or not he could have forced Samsudeen to go to a psychologist.
"As a matter of law, you could have directed him to do that?" Pilditch asked.
"Without consent, we can't direct him," the probation officer said.
When it came to his attitude towards women, the probation officer said he was shocked to learn Samsudeen had made excessive attempts to contact his lawyer.
"From my observations, Mr Samsudeen's negative attitudes and hostility was not directed towards women, it was towards authorities," he said.
"I have never observed anyone who hated police as much as Mr Samsudeen."
The probation officer said Samsudeen had even refused to sit in a police car to be taken from prison to the mosque when he was released from custody.
He said Corrections had completely changed their approach with Muslim prisoners and those with extremist tendencies.
This included working with the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand and the NZ Muslim Association, as well as bringing in highly qualified Imams to assist.
The inquest continues.
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