Cafe siege gunman too 'weird' for bikies

Man Horan Monis killed two people after a 16-hour siege at a cafe in Sydney.

Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis tried to join the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang but was rejected by the bikies, who thought he was "weird" and took his motorbike.

But Monis's attempt to become a bikie may have been another example of his ongoing personal quest for "significance", the inquest into the siege has heard.

The inquest has heard that Monis, the gunman who took 18 people hostage at the Lindt cafe in Martin Place on December 15, 2014, attempted to join two western Sydney chapters of the Rebels in 2012.

Junior counsel assisting, Sophie Callan, told the court investigators spoke to bikies, who declined to testify about Monis.

"However one individual said that no one in the club liked him and he was 'weird'. Another said he was strange and weird, that things didn't add up with him," Callan said. "Ultimately, he was rejected by the Rebels and they took his motorbike around the middle of 2013."

Photos tendered to the court show Monis in a black leather vest and a black T-shirt with the "one percenter" symbol of outlaw motorcycle gangs.

The inquest has heard that Monis, who styled himself as an Islamic cleric, had few friends and no standing with any of the people or groups he sought to influence.

Counsel assisting, Jeremy Gormly SC, told the court that by 2014, after being charged over sexual assaults, being treated for episodes of mental illness and apparently being out of money, Monis looked like "a man spiralling downwards".

Callan said while trying to join a bikie gang may seem an unremarkable chapter in Monis' life, his willingness to change his appearance, "adopt the garb of a new persona" and his attraction to a group "he perhaps saw as exercising power and influence" was not surprising. "His constant goal in life appears to have been achieving significance," she said.

Monis' psychiatrist will be among those called to give evidence as the inquest pieces together how the tragedy could occur. How Monis progressed from Iranian student of Islam to a shotgun-wielding extremist is the focus of the first stage of the coronial inquest.

Gormly said a psychologist and psychiatrist who treated Monis for mental health complaints as recently as 2011 would be among more than 100 witnesses. But while Monis "unquestionably" had some mental health issues they appeared to be modest, Gormly said.

Coroner Michael Barnes said the first stage, covering two weeks, will look deeply into Monis' background to identify how he was diverted "down such a dangerous pathway".

- AAP