Sydney terrorism raids: Teen’s alleged texts to carry out attack against ‘non-believers’ after Wakeley church stabbing revealed

A 16-year-old boy charged with terrorist offenses in connection with the Wakeley church stabbing allegedly stated he was ‘intending to kill’ in reports of carrying out a plan against non-believers, a court heard.

Police allege the teenager is an associate of the 16-year-old boy who allegedly stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel six times at an Assyrian Orthodox church in Wakeley on April 15.

The bishop was delivering a live-streamed sermon at 7 p.m. when he was stabbed by an assailant who then attacked a priest.

His alleged attacker was charged with a terrorist offense, which was quickly followed by widespread search warrants and the arrest of five of his alleged associates.

On Tuesday, a 16-year-old faced Parramatta Children’s Court after being charged with conspiracy to participate in an act in preparation or planning of an act of terrorism and possession of a knife in a public place.

Crown prosecutor Chelsea Brain told the court that messages showed the teenager was involved in a conversation about carrying out a plan against “non-believers”.

The teens talked about spending $2,000 to buy two or three “nerf guns” (a gun-like toy), which the Crown alleges was code for “dirty guns” later called a “shotty.”

‘This is some serious c***. We are going to kill, but we need patience,” the 16-year-old wrote in a message read to the court.

Ms Brain said the teenager had actively considered “some act of violence against members of the community” and had shown support for it people involved in the church stabbing.

He recently changed his social media profile picture to one of himself holding a rifle in front of an Islamic State flag, the court was told.

In another message to a group of teenagers arrested on unrelated charges, Ms Brain said the 16-year-old had admitted to the plans.

“We were planning big things, mate. It’s a conspiracy. I think a conspiracy for a terrorist attack,” he allegedly wrote after his alleged co-conspirators were arrested.

“We were planning something big here bro, you don’t understand. Enormous.’

The court heard that communication between the teenagers in an encrypted group chat began in March.

The 16-year-old and his alleged co-conspirators were planning a terrorist attack of a “biological nature,” according to prosecutors’ allegations.

Ms Brain argued the teenager should not be released on bail because the protection of the community “is a very pressing consideration at this time”.

However, the teenager’s lawyer, Greg James KC, argued the Crown had failed to specify his client’s alleged offences.

“We don’t know, not even from all the material, not even from an analysis of all the text messages sent… what the terrorist act would have been, how much had actually been agreed… or what a terrorist act had been. matter of speculation or conjecture,” he told the court.

“The right thing to do is not to take the juvenile into custody while the prosecutor sorts out their issues.”

Mr James said the teenager was charged with a ‘double preparatory offence’ – conspiracy in preparation for an act of terrorism.

“It is doubly divorced from the central concept of a terrorist crime,” he pointed out.

The teen’s attorney pointed to his complete lack of criminal record and his “exemplary” and “law-abiding” history as factors that would provide the court with comfort when considering bail.

He argued that prosecutors’ concerns could be addressed with “very strict” bail conditions, which would subject the teenager to house arrest and ban him from using an internet-enabled device.

Magistrate Janet Wahlquist refused to grant the 16-year-old boy bail after finding “sufficient communication” was captured in the encrypted chats, which discussed planning attacks, stockpiling houses and obtaining guns and knives.

‘He was clearly aware that what he was doing amounted to terrorism. That didn’t stop him,” she said.

However, the magistrate granted bail to a 17-year-old boy accused of possessing extremist content following the execution of a search warrant linked to the church stabbing.

The court previously heard that the teenager had allegedly been in possession of instructional videos on how to build an explosive device, videos of beheadings and images linked to IS and Hamas.

Yet the teenager’s lawyer, Ertunç Ozen SC, argued there was no evidence his client had viewed the videos and suggested they may have been automatically saved to his phone.

He noted that the teen was only charged with having 124 extremist files on his phone, not with distributing them.

“Possession of these documents does not equate to approval,” he said.

“There is no allegation that this young person has any ties, affiliations or ties to terrorist or ideological causes.”

Mr Ozen argued that the offense falls “very towards the lower end” of the “broad spectrum” of terrorist offenses in the legislation.

Ms Brain opposed bail, noting that some videos were watermarked with the IS symbol and that the teenager’s friends were involved in carrying out attacks on members of the public.

She argued the teenager posed an “unacceptable risk” to the public if released on bail.

Magistrate Wahlquist agreed that the videos were “very violent” and that the videos of the teen’s friends suggested a “closer connection” with him than the other content.

However, she noted that the teenager had spent the past week in isolation while in custody due to the nature of his charges.

The magistrate took into account his heavy custody, along with his youth and lack of criminal history.

Both teens will appear in court again next month.