There is the deadly cult of IS, there is the cult of martyrdom, and the cult of fanatics but our real problem is the cult of celebrity. Every time a violent loser such as the convicted criminal who lured police to the Brighton serviced apartments for a shoot-out strikes it creates copycats.

He was no warrior against Western excesses. He was an ice-using thief – a failure at all things who dreamed of making headlines through murder. Just like another terror suspect who preaches his peculiar version of purity during the day only to slip off to a brothel at night to enjoy the company of transgender sex workers. His bedroom choices are of no interest – his hypocrisy is.

And Sydney's Lindt Cafe gunman was no ideologue. He was a sex offender deluded enough to think he was important.

The Brighton gunman, 29, was one of those who, having failed to leave a mark of achievement in his miserable life, decided to leave a stain of destruction as he exited it.