Teenage boy avoids jail over Sydney terror attack planning
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.
A 16-year-old boy from Western Sydney has been spared jail time for preparing a terror plot after being exposed to extremist content on social media. The boy, who was 14 at the time of his arrest in August 2024, was charged with acts in preparation for a terror attack. A Supreme Court judge found the level of planning to be the least serious end of the scale and that the teen did not pose a significant risk of reoffending.
The judge sentenced the boy to a three-year community corrections order, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. The teen admitted to considering carrying out a mass terror attack at the Sydney Opera House, inspired by extremist material he encountered on TikTok and through encrypted messaging apps. He shared extremist content with others online and attempted to contact a Boston Marathon bomber in a US jail via email.
However, the judge noted that the teen's communications showed a high level of naivety and that he repeatedly fobbed off questions about carrying out an attack. The judge accepted the teen's remorse and acceptance of legal responsibility, stating that his prospects of rehabilitation were excellent. The teenager was told to surrender the password to his phone to a youth justice officer and not to access encrypted messaging apps.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
