The youngest member of a group of teenagers accused of conspiring to plan a terror attack has been denied bail on the grounds that he posed an “unacceptable risk” to society.
The 15-year-old had his head in his hands as he heard magistrate James Viney’s decision, which means he could remain in custody for more than 12 months, awaiting trial.
He, alongside five other teenagers, has been charged with conspiracy to engage in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act. After search warrants were executed last week, two other teenagers have been charged with possessing or controlling violent extremist material.
Viney said his decision to refuse bail was based on some of the encrypted messages revealed to the court yesterday, including some where the teenager allegedly explicitly told a group chat with his alleged co-conspirators that he “wanted to stab” Jews and Assyrians.
In another message, he allegedly said he was “actually thinking of doing an attack,” and in another instance, said he “wanted to do it to a bunch of Jews”.
“I am so cut, I want to do it so bad,” he allegedly said in another message revealed to court on Wednesday.
Viney said these revealed an “unacceptable risk to the protection of the community”.
“The messages clearly set up the young person wanting to do something catastrophic,” Viney said.
The magistrate said this was of “paramount consideration” and found the boy’s alleged explicit threats to stab Jewish or Assyrian people and a previous alleged assault to be “gravely concerning”.
Viney said it was “obvious” the teenager’s parents loved and cared for him.
They had confiscated his phone in the days after a 16-year-old allegedly stabbed bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at a church in western Sydney, when they noticed the teen’s “heightened activity”.
Viney said the parents had “tried very hard to deal with their son’s problems as he has grown older” and that they were “genuinely shocked” at the charges he is facing.
The magistrate said if the only consideration was the young man’s wellbeing, the decision might have been different.
Outside court, the boy’s solicitor, Ahmed Dib, said he would be appealing against the decision in the supreme court, and that the teenager’s family was “disappointed.”
“They’re a loving family, so you can imagine their disappointment,” he said. “They’re loving parents who also have younger children to worry about,” he said.
The teenager is due back in court on 21 June.
