Teenage boy avoids jail over Sydney terror attack planning

A teenage boy who admitted he considered carrying out a mass terror attack at the Sydney Opera House after being exposed to extremist content on TikTok has been spared a prison sentence after a Supreme Court judge found there was "very little chance" of him reoffending.The 16-year-old was handed a three-year community corrections order for the offence, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.The boy, who cannot be identified, had just turned 14 when he was arrested at his Western Sydney home by federal police in August 2024 and charged with committing acts in preparation for a terror attack.He pleaded guilty in August this year.The court heard the teen had sought out online instructions about how to make a pressure-cooker bomb and researched potential target locations, including the finishing line of the Sydney Marathon at the Sydney Opera House.But in sentencing, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Campbell found the level of planning was at the least serious end of the scale."I was not persuaded beyond reasonable doubt … that he had formed a determined view to do anything," he said."The research was not sophisticated and he took no steps to cover his tracks" the judge said, noting the teen had not made any attempts to obtain the materials to make a bomb or settled on a date for an attack.'High level of naivety'The teen told the court he had first been exposed to extremist material on TikTok which he found "interesting", and it led to him viewing increasingly violent material including some from Al Qaeda and recruitment propaganda from the Islamic State group.The court heard that over a five-week period in 2024 the teen had shared extremist material with others online, praised Al Qaeda on encrypted messaging apps and attempted to contact the surviving Boston Marathon bomber in a US jail via email.But the judge suggested the communications showed a "high level of naivety" and noted that the boy repeatedly "ducked" or "fobbed off" the question when the people he was chatting to asked him if he was going to carry out an attack.He said when the boy was asked if he would try to make a bomb he had replied: "For now I cannot try to make it because my parents will see … but later on I will, inshallah." When the same correspondent asked him if he wanted to learn how to plan an attack the teen replied: "For now I am just learning how to make [a bomb] but not planning.""He did not indoctrinate others and there was not evidence of him planning an imminent attack," the judge said."I accept his evidence that he was hesitant at best … about actually carrying out an attack."Judge found 'very little chance' of reoffendingJustice Campbell said since his arrest the teenager had renounced Islamic extremism and would benefit from continuing to live in a "loving home", with his parents who were from the persecuted Hazara minority in Afghanistan.He said the couple had friends from a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds and had counselled their son that extremism was against their interpretation of Islam."The compelling evidence of remorse and acceptance of legal responsibility persuade me that his prospects of rehabilitation are excellent, "Justice Campbell said."I am of the opinion that there is very little chance of the young person offending again."The teenager was handed a three-year community corrections order and told he must hand over the password to his phone to a youth justice officer, continue to undertake any deradicalisation or education programs as instructed and not have access to any encrypted messaging apps. After he was sentenced he returned to sit between his parents in the courtroom, where his mother briefly rested her head on his shoulder and his father smiled.