Cath Burn denies interfering during Lindt Cafe siege

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn has publicly denied playing any operational role during the Sydney Lindt Cafe siege.

Ms Burn, the state's head of counter-terrorism, has begun giving her highly-anticipated evidence at a coronial inquest into the December 2014 stand-off.

On Monday she flatly denied offering a senior commander suggestions around negotiations strategies when the two spoke during the final hours of the siege.

Ms Burn said she called Commander Mark Jenkins at around 10.50pm after receiving a call from a journalist regarding releasing the identity of gunman Man Haron Monis.

Ms Burn insisted the pair did not discuss the state of negotiations, nor did the commander identify any problems or issues.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Jeremy Gormly SC, suggested to Ms Burn she was entitled to offer suggestions, and to do so at that stage would have been sensible and reasonable.

However, Ms Burn insisted she was off duty at the time and not in a position to do so.

The deputy commissioner was also pressed about text messages she sent during and soon after the siege which were deleted and have not been recovered.

Many of the texts related to setting up briefings or meetings, while others were received from members of the public wanting to pass on their support to police, she said.

Ms Burn said other than a text message to Acting Deputy Commissioner Jeff Loy soon after the siege had ended, asking for a debrief on the execution of an "emergency action" (EA) which saw police storm the building, she couldn't recall any others which pertained to an EA.

It was also "highly unlikely" any of the deleted text messages related to progress in negotiations, she said.

Ms Burn is set to return to the inquest on Tuesday morning.