But Mr Pantelios also challenged police accounts of the hearing, saying that police had not been "very vocal" about whether Gargasoulas presented a serious risk. "They weren't making a massive song and dance about him being a massive danger to society," he testified. Gargasoulas was arrested and questioned after doing doughnuts outside St Kilda police station. When he faced Mr Pantelios at the bail hearing, Gargasoulas was charged with theft of a motor vehicle and "recklessly engage in conduct driving at excessive speed on the wrong side of the road to evade police that may have placed persons in danger of death". Counsel assisting the coroner, Stephen O'Meara, QC, grilled Mr Pantelios about whether he had followed protocol in checking Gargasoulas' criminal history, whether the offender was wanted on open warrants, or charges were pending against him.

"You say you asked for them but you didn’t have them?" Mr O'Meara asked. "Yes," Mr Pantelios said. "Warrants?" "I can't remember," Mr Pantelios replied. "They are very relevant are they not?" Mr O'Meara asked.

"Yes," said Mr Pantelios. "There was one for failing to answer bail? "As I learnt later on, yes," Mr Pantelios said. Mr Pantelios said he had been following his training when he did not "demand" a copy of Gargasoulas' criminal history – known as a LEAP record – or other paperwork. But Mr O'Meara took Mr Pantelios to a 2015 training manual that showed bail justices were required to ask to see LEAP records and open warrants.

Mr Pantelios was also questioned about his failure to complete a number of sections on the paperwork he created for Gargasoulas' bail hearing. Police made a mistake on paperwork before James Gargasoulas was freed on bail in the days before the Bourke Street massacre. The teacher-turned-volunteer bail justice repeatedly contested the accounts given by several police officers about what he was told during the hearing regarding the level of danger posed by Gargasoulas. In other instances, he said he could "not recall" whether he had been given information by the officers. When he was cross-examined by the barrister acting for the families of the six people killed in the rampage, Mr Pantelios said the police officer running the bail application "did not have a good grasp of the case".

"[Senior Constable Jake Semmel] bumbled through his papers when asked for evidence of failing to answer bail," Mr Pantelios said. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "He also needed to seek clarification from [Detective Senior Constable Murray Gentner], particularly towards the end of the hearing where he stated that Gentner had a much better understanding of the accused's past." Mr Pantelios also told the coroner that if he had known Gargasoulas had threatened to kill his own mother the day prior to his arrest, that he was delusional, or on drugs he would "most likely not" have granted him bail. "It was up to the police to present their case," he said.

The inquest has already heard several days of evidence about the after-hours bail hearing on January 14, 2017, that saw Gargasoulas released six days before the attack in Bourke Street. Loading Several police officers have testified that they strongly opposed Gargasoulas getting bail, scrambling to bolster their case for keeping him in custody when it appeared he would be released by Mr Pantelios. Senior Constable Semmel testified last week that he told the bail justice that Gargasoulas, who had an extensive criminal history, had previously failed 13 times to report on bail and was facing 14 new charges at the time of the hearing. But the coroner's inquest has also heard that Senior Constable Semmel mistakenly ticked the wrong boxes on a key document which failed to signal Gargasoulas was considered a safety risk to the public and was likely to reoffend while on bail.