A police spokeswoman said the man broke the window not as an act of aggression but because the air conditioner in the office was not working. The alleged hostage taker. Credit:Nick Moir Mr Clifford said police were ''very concerned'' about the man's comments that he had a ''device in the bag''. ''Until we have possession of the backpack we will remain very concerned about it.'' He said police negotiators were still talking to the man but would not reveal what his demands were.

After smashing the window, the man was seen to stick his hand out to make a thumbs-up sign and a peace sign but has not made any further appearances. Earlier he had stood at the window in a lawyer's wig making a thumbs down gesture. The alleged hostage taker looks through the window. Credit:Nick Moir Do you know more? Message 0424 SMS SMH (+61 424 767 764), email us or message us on Twitter @smh with information or images. The man's brother was outside the building with police for a while before leaving in a police car. The man appears again at the lawyers' office window. Credit:Nick Moir

Betty Hor, a clerk from Arthur Phillip chambers, said a man walked into the office at 8.50am with a girl, who appeared to be about 10, "demanding to speak to someone from the local court. He was meant to go to court today but he couldn't find this person, and I think he just snapped". She was in the reception area and the only person in the office at the time. Thumbs down ... the man gestures over a lawyer's wig. Credit:Gene Ramirez, The Sun, Parramatta that's when the daughter yelled 'Dad!'. And he said 'come in' to the daughter but she was out on the stairwell and then he walked down to the front part of the building and closed the door. I could hear him destroying things, throwing things around "He asked, is this person here? And I said no, there is nobody here by that name.

"Then he went up to the next level, because there's offices above us. Then he came back down and he came into the reception area. Emergency crews arrive at the scene. Credit:Channel Nine "I again mentioned there was nobody by that name and he took a book out of the library - we've got law books on the wall - and he threw it at reception. "And that's when the daughter yelled 'Dad!' The scene outside Parramatta Family Court. Credit:Channel Nine

"And he said 'come in' to the daughter but she was out on the stairwell and then he walked down to the front part of the building and closed the door. "I could hear him destroying things, throwing things around." Police cordon off George Street. Credit:Alicia Wood Ms Hor said the man said he had a bomb "as he walked down to the front of the building". "I was on the line to triple-0 until the police arrived."

Ms Hor also told The Daily Telegraph that she did not think the man had a bomb as he had his daughter with him. Wearing lawyer's wig The man, who appeared to be about 50, was seen through a full-length window of the George Street legal complex wearing the lawyer's wig and no shirt. He was seen pointing at himself and giving the thumbs-up, then pointing to the wig and giving the thumbs down. There was no sign of a girl. The barristers' chambers are opposite Parramatta Family Court in George Street, and police extended the cordoned-off section to include the whole justice precinct, including Parramatta Local Court and the police station.

Fairfax reporters saw the man return to the second-floor office window, this time with his shirt on. He again held the wig to the window and gave a thumbs down above it. A police spokesman said: "At this stage it is not known what caused the man to attend the building or what he is in possession of." 'He just snapped' A spokeswoman for Parramatta Family Court said the man had never had a matter before the court. A woman who knows the man said she was scared of him.

"He's very vocal and demands things and I'm very wary of him," she said. The woman said he had a partner and is believed to have several children. It is understood the man is well-known around in his local area for being violent. Damian Ryan, a Channel Nine reporter at George Street, said he saw the man standing at a full-length window. "He had a judge's wig on," he told 2UE Radio. "He was giving us the thumbs up. He took at the wig off, spat at the wig and gave the thumbs down." (It appears more likely to be a barrister's wig than a judge's.)

Ryan said he did not see anything strapped to the man and did not see a child at the window either. Jessica Hanna, who works a few doors down at the Nyman Gibson Stewart law firm, said police cordoned off her office but she had not been advised to leave. "They've wrapped [our office] all up ... I'm concerned," she said. "When I arrived this morning ... I saw police rock up on the corner of the local court, park their car, run across the opposite side of Marsden Street ... and then they ran back," she said. "As I was coming to work there was a cop [who] rocked up as everyone was waiting there to see what was going on.

"I noticed a few people had been evacuated out of the building. "All I know was what I've heard from police. I've asked him, and [he said] I think it's OK at this stage." A police command post has been set up at George Street. Two large police rescue vans are at George Street, as well as ambulances, including one from the specialised response unit. A fire truck is also stationed outside 11 George Street.

About a dozen Hazmat fireman and ambulance special operation officers are standing by. Paramedics have prepared a stretcher beside the ambulance. with Nick Ralston, Alicia Wood and AAP

