A 16-year-old Sydney boy charged with terrorism offences has been denied bail over fears for community safety after a court heard he messaged another young person “we’re going to kill”.
Six teenagers were charged after counter-terrorism raids in Sydney last week, with two of them appearing in the children’s court at Parramatta on Tuesday. Both boys cannot be named for legal reasons.
The 16-year-old has been charged with conspiring to engage in an act in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act and for custody of a knife in a public place. The court heard he sent a number of text messages in April where he spoke of obtaining guns, a search for a stash house, and preparations for “big stuff”.
“This is serious shit, we’re going to kill. But we need patience,” the 16-year-old allegedly texted a young person, who the court heard replied: “I want to die and I want to kill.”
On 22 April, after other young people were arrested for assault at a bottle shop, the 16-year-old sent a message to a young person not involved in the assault, expressing concerns those arrested would have their phones seized.
“We were planning big stuff bro, it’s conspiracy for a terrorist attack I think,” the court heard he wrote in a text message.
The 16-year-old had also allegedly discussed a “kuffar plan”, described to the court as a “non-believer” plan.
In another message, responding to a friend who allegedly said they would do something “we won’t get done for”, the court heard that the 16-year-old responded: “shooting and bombs [are] too hard”. The friend then allegedly responded: “What about stabbing?”
The court heard the 16-year-old had posted on social media in support of the 16-year-old who allegedly stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley earlier this month. The court heard he had also changed his profile picture on an online forum to a picture of a person carrying a rifle and Islamic state flag.
The 16-year-old’s lawyer, the defence barrister Greg James KC, told the court that bail should be granted on the basis of “exceptional circumstances”, including his age, his clean criminal record, and that there was no terrorist act specified in the text messages.
The court heard the 16-year-old’s parents, who were present for the hearing, wrote an affidavit describing an “excellent son” who was a good student. They had never had any complaints about his behaviour, and he had planned to go to university after finishing Tafe.
“Their material suggest he is a young man who would likely otherwise have a bright future,” Magistrate Janet Wahlquist said.
A 17-year-old, who has been charged with possessing or controlling violent extremist material, was granted bail in the same court on Tuesday under strict conditions, including not being allowed to leave the house without parental supervision, and not having a computer or phone that has internet access.
The prosecution, which opposed the bail, acknowledged that the charges against the 17-year-old were less serious than charges against the 16-year-old.
The court heard that the 17-year-old was already on bail for another offence, leading to the seizure of his phone and discovery of alleged extremist material, which included 124 files on his phone. The material allegedly included a video of an assault with the Islamic State symbol watermarked over the video.
The New South Wales joint counter-terrorism team executed 13 search warrants on Wednesday that resulted in the arrest of seven teenagers described as “associates” of a 16-year-old who allegedly stabbed the bishop in Wakeley last week. Six of those teenagers have since been charged with terrorism offences.
The arrests and charges come amid the ongoing investigation into the 16-year-old who allegedly stabbed the bishop.
The parents of the 16-year-old told ABC that their son had experienced mental health problems throughout his school life, and had suspected autism.
“He saw so many counsellors in his schools and we saw more than two psychologists and they’re all saying like ‘he have a problem, he have issue when he gets angry’,” his mother said in an interview aired on Monday.
