A 14-year-old and a 17-year-old 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 preventive detention after being accused of a terrorism crime.
On Wednesday, police arrested five teenagers who they say are associates of the boy, who allegedly attacked the bishop at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley.
The five teenagers, who are aged between 14 and 17, appeared at Parramatta Youth Court on Thursday after being charged with terrorism and extremism offences.
A 14-year-old and a 17-year-old have applied for bail after being charged with possession of violent extremist material on their mobile phones.
Five Sydney teenagers aged between 14 and 17 have been charged with terrorism and extremism offenses following the Wakeley Church stabbing (pictured)
On Wednesday, police arrested five teenagers who they say are accomplices to the killer (pictured, one of the arrests).
Police allegedly found graphic ISIS-produced videos on the younger teen’s phone showing 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 was “clearly associated” with the terrorist organisation.
However, the 14-year-old’s lawyer, Jehane Ghabrial, said there was no evidence his client had viewed the videos and suggested they may have been automatically saved to his phone after they were sent to him.
She argued there was also no evidence he engaged in conversations about ideological or religious extremism, indicating he may have been “influenced” by his older co-accused.
The teenager had a “limited understanding of Arabic” and would not have been able to understand the videos sent to him, Ghabrial said.
However, the Crown prosecutor refuted that the alleged lack of understanding “does not preclude” engaging with the extremist content, which was clearly marked with an ISIS emblem.
Magistrate Paul Mulroney criticized the “violent extremist” videos on the 14-year-old’s phone as “distressing, reprehensible and (depicting) the worst behavior of humanity”.
However, he accepted that the boy was not accused of creating or distributing the videos and said it was possible he had received them and done nothing about it.
Police allegedly found graphic ISIS-produced videos on the 14-year-old’s phone showing beheadings, people being run over by armed vehicles and homophobic violence.
The 14-year-old’s lawyer said there was no evidence his client had viewed the ISIS videos and suggested they may have been automatically saved to his phone after they were sent to him.
The magistrate noted that the boy’s age meant he “had a reduced capacity to consider the consequences of his behaviour” and emphasized his lack of criminal record.
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 his appeal is heard at a later date.
The 17-year-old charged with the same offense will also remain in custody after Magistrate Mulroney rejected his bail application, citing the “appreciably greater severity” of the extremist content he allegedly interacted with.
Nelson told the court that the videos showed “very, very, very serious violence” showing beheadings carried out by IS, hostage-taking and murder, and videos linked to Hamas.
“There is a video of a person in a military uniform who is giving instructions on the manufacture of explosive devices,” he said.
Police allegedly found graphic ISIS-produced videos on two of the teens’ phones (pictured, one of Wednesday’s arrests)
The crown prosecutor argued that the videos revealed that the 17-year-old had an extremist ideology.
However, the teenager’s lawyer, Talal Krayem, emphasized that there was no evidence of links to terrorist or ideological causes and told the court that 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 ruled he would have to be treated in custody after criticizing the videos on his phone as “horrible, horrible, horrible” and highlighting his affiliation with more than one terrorist organisation.
“(The images) represent extreme violence, gratuitous violence,” he said.
“It also describes methodologies for the commission of violent acts.”
The arrests (pictured) followed widespread search warrants executed in Sydney and Goulburn.
Like his younger co-defendant, the magistrate acknowledged that the 17-year-old had not been accused of creating or disseminating the videos.
Another 17-year-old also appeared in court after being charged with conspiring to participate in an act of preparation or planning for a terrorist act and having a knife in a public place.
His attorney indicated he would file a request for release on Tuesday.
Two 16-year-olds were also charged with conspiracy to engage in an act of preparation or planning for a terrorist act. Neither of them requested bail.
Police allege that the three teenagers conspired with each other and others between April 18 and April 24 to prepare or plan a terrorist act.
They will return to court in June.