The teens were arrested and charged after police swooped on Adnum Lane, off Fetherstone Street, in October 2016 and were found in possession of two large bayonet-style knives and religious notes.
In April, a jury found that when he was 16, a boy identified as WE for legal reasons, jointly committed acts with another teen identified as HG, in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act (or acts).
The pair bought two fixed blade knives from a Bankstown shop on October 6, 2016, before returning six days later to buy to two more 12-inch knives.
Arrested at an Islamic prayer hall in Bankstown, a handwritten note was found the boys’ backpack, “the terms of which directed that those who do not pledge allegiance to ISIS will not find themselves in paradise when they die”.
Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Bellew noted that part way through his trial, WE, now aged 20, opted to represent himself and “chose not to participate in much of the trial” including repeatedly lying on to floor of the dock out of view of the jury and refusing to answer questions during cross-examination.
He also refused to leave his cell for the sentencing hearing, forcing four guards to physically carry him into the dock and restrain him with handcuffs.
During sentencing, Justice Bellew noted that the offending “was planned” and WE’s prospects of rehabilitation, especially given his behaviour in custody, were poor.
He said the teen had been “motivated by an extremist, perverted and corrupt ideology which advocated violence in the name of religion”.
“The offender had been a devotee of that ideology for some time prior to his offending,” he said.
In December 2018, WE’s co-conspirator, HG, was also sentenced to 16 years jail with a 12 year non-parole period.
