The story behind the man with a cape

The man arrested over a seven-hour siege atop a primary school building is a serial roof climber who allegedly planned the stand-off by arming himself with hydrochloric acid and tools in a bid to stretch out the siege and cause the most disruption.

Police believe the cape-wearing Claudiu Centea, 41, had learnt from an earlier attempt to make a pest of himself when he climbed atop the roof of the Commonwealth Bank at Hamilton in early March.

The known drug user was cleared by medical staff this morning of suffering a significant mental illness and handed back into the custody of police where he was charged with a range of offences and refused bail to appear in court today.

Police have told Life and Crimes that during the afternoon siege at The Junction on Tuesday, Centea never threatened to harm himself or anyone else.

Instead, it appeared the homeless man had spent some time planning his escapade well before he entered St Joseph's Primary School at The Junction and onto a classroom roof.

And the drama started before Centea walked onto school grounds.

It is alleged Centea knocked on the door of a Brien Street house - around the corner from the school - and asked about leasing the place. After a brief conversation with the tenant, he left with his bike and dog.

He also is alleged to have attempted to enter a Union Street business before yelling profanities when he was denied entry.

By about 1pm, Centea is alleged to have run onto the grounds of St Joseph's, which takes out a large chunk of the block surrounding Union, Kenrick, Farquhar and Brien streets, as pupils were in class.

He chose to jump onto the roof of a classroom facing Union Street - the busiest of the four streets and one of inner Newcastle's busiest afternoon thoroughfares - and started yelling random words and ramblings.

And it wasn't just his mouth that quickly gained attention - his attire was something to behold.

Centea had a full-piece snow skiing suit doubling as a cape to go with his open-faced silver helmet and gumboots.

Claudiu Centea wearing the silver helmet and skiing costume as a cape on top of a roof of St Joseph's Primary School at The Junction. He kept police at bay for over eight hours.

The school quickly went into lockdown as police and other emergency services rushed to the scene.

By chance, members of the transit police - officers who patrol the region's public transport - were some of those who were diverted to Union Street and quickly identified Centea. The homeless man is known to frequent the region's trains and the transit officers started up a conversation with the suspect as negotiators were called.

Pupils underneath where Centea was standing remained in lockdown and when the suspect allegedly began to pull off roof tiles, it was decided to attempt to corral him into another area for fear he could enter the roof cavity and then the classrooms.

The theory worked and teachers were able to get the pupils out of the classrooms and into a safer large hall, well away from the incident. Police have praised the planning and execution of the school's lockdown policy.

As the pupils were being herded away, Centea was heard to yell: "Kiddies, don't listen to Mr Morgan.''

But it was only after the pupils had been moved that the reasons for Centea grabbing the roof tiles became clearer.

He placed one in his backpack and held two in front of his chest as he yelled for police not to shoot him - he had set about making it look as though he was using them as some sort of bulletproof vest.

The police were never going to shoot him. Highly trained police had already scaled the roof, with four officers sitting just metres from Centea as he continued to walk up and down the roof yelling sentences which made little sense. This was about containing and negotiating.

Centea got rid of his helmet and cape, as well as one gumboot, and threatened to drink hydrochloric acid from a container he had brought with him. Police knew it was acid when he poured some of the roof, where smoke billowed off the tiles, before pouring it onto concrete below.

It was feared he may have drunk some of the acid after putting the blue container to his lips, but he was later cleared by medical staff who said he would have severely burnt his aesophagus and stomach if he had consumed any.

And then the game of cat and mouse continued, with Centea rambling and not engaging with negotiators but for a short period late in the day.

He continually asked for a "truce" so he could put the roof tiles down and roll a cigarette. Sometimes he dropped the tiles - most probably accidentally - before arming himself with another.

By 8.30pm, police had been able to move him to a section of the roof which was not as high as where he was based before the four officers sitting patiently on the roof pounced and Centea was taken into custody.

He was taken to hospital where he was assessed and released back into police custody after experts said he was not suffering a significant mental illness.