Inside the 16 Hour Lindt Cafe Siege

On the 15th of December 2014, the usually bustling Martin Place in Sydney's CBD became the epicentre of chaos, as a terrorist held 18 people hostage inside the Lindt Cafe. 

Ben Besant was the Tactical Operations Unit officer that brought the 16 hour ordeal to a close by eliminating the terrorist. 

In the decade since that day he's been known as 'Officer A', but as of November 2024, Ben is stepping into the limelight to share his account of what happened across those brutal 16 hours. 

He speaks to Ant about his role and mindset during the siege, and the 'high price' he's paid for his service as a result. 

This episode contains Ben Besant’s first-hand experience of the Lindt Café Siege and includes discussions of terrorism, violence, death and PTSD. If any of these topics are triggering for you, please give this episode a miss or seek help by visiting Lifeline's website at https://www.lifeline.org.au/ or by calling 13 11 14.

LINKS

• Ben's book, Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! is available to purchase at tigertigertigerbook.com 
• Follow Ant on Instagram, X, and Facebook
• Learn more about Ant on his website antmiddleton.com
• Follow Nova Podcasts on Instagram for videos from the podcast and behind the scenes content – @novapodcastsofficial.

CREDITS
Host: Ant Middleton
Editor: Adrian Walton
Executive Producer: Anna Henvest 
Managing Producer: Elle Beattie

Nova Entertainment acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we recorded this podcast, the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. We pay our respect to Elders past and present. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.