Prosecutors say teen charged in Sydney church stabbing plotted attack on Jewish community
May 1 (UPI) -- Australian prosecutors argued on Wednesday that a 15-year-old involved in a stabbing at a Sydney court wanted to attack Jewish community members but his attorney said his talk was nothing more than boasting.
The revelations came during a hearing where a judge was determining whether to release the youth on bail. The Joint Counter Terrorism Team arrested the boy and others connected to the April 15 stabbing attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and three others inside a church at Wakeley in western Sydney.
The boy, who is officially charged with conspiring to engage in any act in preparation for or planning a terrorist act, sent messages to others in a group chat on the messaging app Signal called "Plans" expressing his motivation to harm Jewish people.
"I want to do it to a bunch of Jews," the boy said on a group chat on April 20, according to prosecutors. "I want to do it bad. Don't youse want to do an attack? What about Palestine? I want to attack Jews here."
The boy's attorney Ahmed Dib said his client was simply putting on a "macho" performance in the messages.
"This is a young person venting something wrong, deranged but that doesn't go to the strength of the prosecution's case," Dib told the court. "It wouldn't be outside of the realm of possibility that a 15-year-old is trying to brag and be macho about something that he has no connection to."
Dib also argued that the conversations shared in court did not constitute "substantial planning."
"In terms of taking proactive steps, this was a young person venting unethically, it's deranged, but does not go to strength of prosecution case," he said.
Prosecutors told the court, though, the boy was already on bail in a separate incident on April 22 where he was part of a group accused of throwing rocks and a plank of wood that just missed the suspect.
They noted the teen had a knife in his possession during this incident, but Dib cited his restraint in not using it.
He said it was a "significant jump" to go from throwing a wooden plank to plotting a terrorist attack.
"He does not pull that knife out at any point," Dib said. "He complies with police, it's a very different type of person to the one described as having potential to carry out [a] terror attack."
The judge adjourned the court until Thursday without making a ruling on bail.
