NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione has revealed his own wife and daughter had been inside the Lindt cafe at Martin Place just before Monday's siege began.
Speaking at length on Sydney radio station 2GB to morning host Ray Hadley, Mr Scipione said the past seven days were "up there, definitely" as among his toughest in the seven years he has held the top job and indicated he will not seek to renew his position when it expires in September 2015.
He said his wife and daughter had been inside the cafe on Monday morning and were shown around the store by its manager Tori Johnson - one of two victims of the siege - and left an hour before the hostage situation began.
"They came into town with me, they were going to do a bit of Christmas shopping," Mr Scipione said. "Mother and daughter have a bit of tradition of coming in looking around, listening to the carols and looking at the stores and unbeknownst to me they both decided to slip down into Martin Place and have a look around in the Lindt shop.
"The irony of it is that they were shown through the shop, all of the chocolates, all the things that you would go there for, by Tori Johnson.
"It's been a sad place, my house, because particularly my wife Joy, reflected on this young man. She said, 'Andrew he was so open and so caring, he was very very warm, friendly and he's no longer with us'. That still causes many a tear to flow."
Monis's wife, Amirah Droudis has been ordered to front court on Monday to explain why her bail while on a murder charge should continue.
The bail hearing will be held in the local court, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said.
The DPP will go to court to request the duty judge review her bail. Police issued the bail review notice to the 35-year-old at her Wiley Park home at 9pm on Friday night.
Ms Droudis will front the court for the bail hearing in relation to the murder of Noleen Hayson Pal at Werrington in April 2013.
Mr Scipione has also backed the performance of his officers in dealing with the siege and hostage situation which transpired over almost 17 hours in the heart of Sydney's CBD, saying he had been "amazed" in briefings by their "courage, bravery, strength and professionalism".
He said the tactical operations officers stormed into that cafe just after 2am on Tuesday, not knowing if the gunman, Man Monis, was in possession of explosives in his backpack.
"I'm sure that when this story does unfold through the coronial process Australia will be proud of what these young men did," Mr Scipione told 2GB.
"That day they did more than save 16 people, they actually drove a stake into the footpath in Martin Place that says we stand for what's right, we stand for freedom and we are going to do all we can to ensure this nation remains a free nation."
Mr Scipione said he was not in a position to discuss what police should or should not have done in relation to the siege, with the matter now the subject of a coronial inquiry.
But he said that if a police sniper had been in a position to shoot the gunman "they probably would have done it, rather than going through the door not knowing what they were confronting".
