The Australian federal police officer who authorised an undercover operation that resulted in an autistic boy being charged with terror offences has told a Senate estimates hearing that he would do so again under the same circumstances.
Guardian Australia revealed earlier this month that a Victorian children’s court had granted a permanent stay in the case of the boy, given the pseudonym Thomas Carrick, with magistrate Lesley Fleming making a raft of serious findings against police, including that they had fed his fixation with Islamic State.
The AFP deputy commissioner Ian McCartney said attempts to deradicalise the boy after his parents approached Victoria police in April 2021 had failed, and he was thought to be becoming a greater threat when McCartney authorised the major operation.
