Teens’ alleged extremist video collection
A 14-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy charged in connection with a church attack allegedly had “reprehensible’” extremist videos on their phones, including instructions on how to make a bomb.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was allegedly stabbed six times by a 16-year-old boy who remains in custody on remand after being charged with a terrorism offence.
On Wednesday, police arrested five teenagers who they allege are associates of the boy, who allegedly attacked the bishop at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley.
All five teenagers, who are aged between 14 and 17, appeared in Parramatta Children’s Court on Thursday after being charged with terrorism and extremism offences.
A 14-year-old boy and 17-year-old boy both applied for bail after being charged with possessing violent extremist material on their mobile phones.
Police allegedly found graphic videos produced by IS on the younger teenager’s phone that showed beheadings, people being run over by armed vehicles and homophobic violence.
Police prosecutor Matthew Nelson argued the boy should not be granted bail because the videos showed “incredibly serious violence”.
He said the boy’s possession and control of the material showed he “clearly associates” with the terrorist organisation.
However, the 14-year-old boy’s lawyer Jehane Ghabrial said there was no evidence her client had viewed the videos and suggested they might have automatically been saved to his phone after they were sent to him.
She argued there was also no proof he engaged in conversations about ideological or religious extremism, indicating he might have been “influenced” by his older co-accused.
The teen had a “limited understanding of Arabic” and would not have been able to understand the videos sent to him, Ms Ghabrial said.
Yet the crown prosecutor rebutted the alleged lack of understanding “does not detract” from interacting with the extremist content, which was clearly marked with an IS emblem.
Magistrate Paul Mulroney slammed the “violent extremist” videos on the 14-year-old boy’s phone as “distressing, reprehensible, and (depicting) the worst behaviour of humanity”.
Yet he accepted the boy was not charged with creating or distributing the videos, and said it was possible he had received the videos and done nothing about them.
The magistrate noted the boy’s age meant he “had a reduced capacity to consider the consequences of his behaviour” and emphasised his lack of criminal history.
He granted bail with strict conditions, but the boy’s release was immediately blocked by an appeal from Mr Nelson.
The 14-year-old will remain behind bars on remand until the appeal is heard at a later date.
The 17-year-old boy charged with the same offence will also remain in custody on remand after Magistrate Mulroney refused his bail application, citing the “appreciably greater seriousness” of the extremist content with which he allegedly interacted.
Mr Nelson told the court the videos showed “very, very, very serious violence” depicting beheadings carried out by IS, hostages being taken and killed, and videos linked to Hamas.
“There’s a video of a person in military fatigues who is providing instructions as to the making of explosive devices,” he said.
The crown prosecutor argued the videos revealed the 17-year-old held an extremist ideology.
However, the teenager’s lawyer Talal Krayem emphasised there was no evidence of any ties to terrorist or ideological causes and told the court his client did not speak Arabic.
He said the teenager had serious health and mental health issues, which needed to be addressed in the community.
Magistrate Mulroney determined he would have to be treated in custody after slamming the videos on his phone as “awful, awful, awful” and highlighting their affiliation with more than one terrorist organisation.
“(The imagery) depicts extreme violence, gratuitous violence,” he said.
“It also depicts methodologies for the commission of violent acts.”
Similarly to his younger co-accused, the magistrate acknowledged the 17-year-old had not been charged with creating or disseminating the videos.
Another 17-year-old boy also faced court after he was charged with conspiring to engage in an act in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act and having a knife in a public place.
His lawyer indicated he would make an application for release on Tuesday.
Two 16-year-old boys were also charged with conspiring to engage in an act in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act. Neither applied for bail.
Police allege the three teenagers conspired with each other and others between April 18 and 24 to engage in preparation or planning for a terrorist act.
They will return to court in June.
