Mall inquest adjourns until February

An inquest into the Bourke Street mall tragedy, in which six people died and 27 were injured, has adjourned for the year and will resume in February.

Coroner Jacqui Hawkins has heard 23 days of evidence from police members, civilians and families of the six people killed when a stolen car rammed pedestrians in the heart of Melbourne on January 20, 2017.

The inquest is examining the out of sessions bail hearing that allowed driver James Gargasoulas to be freed, six days before the massacre.

It is also looking into the police response in the lead up to the event and on the day and any opportunities for learnings to prevent a repeat event.

The offender, who suffers paranoid schizophrenia, was jailed in February for at least 46 years in what the sentencing judge branded one of Australia's worst examples of mass murder.

The inquest resumes on Monday, February 17.