Sydney pharmacy student who stabbed man with machete found guilty of terrorism

A Sydney pharmacy student who repeatedly stabbed a passer-by with a machete, shouting “I will kill you, you will die”, has been found guilty of carrying out a terrorist act.

“He got me probably three or four times and I didn’t know what to do,” Wayne Greenhalgh told police from his hospital bed. “There was blood pouring out of everywhere.”

Ihsas Khan, 25, pleaded not guilty on the grounds of mental illness to committing a terrorist act when he attacked the then 57-year-old at Minto in September 2016.

The victim ran to a nearby home hair salon for safety while bystanders confronted Khan, who was later tasered by police.

On Thursday, Khan was found guilty by a sixth NSW supreme court jury, which rejected his defence that he was suffering from a mental illness at the time.

Three previous trials were aborted midway through evidence, one was aborted on its second day and the fifth jury could not reach a verdict.

From the dock during one of the trials, Khan told Greenhalgh: “I’m so sorry for what I did to you. You are not the guy I thought you were.”

Khan, who the crown alleged was a “self-radicalised extremist Muslim” and Islamic State supporter, has not denied attacking Greenhalgh but told a psychiatrist that a jinn, or supernatural being, instructed him to kill someone.

Greenhalgh had been walking home from Kmart in the afternoon when he passed Khan’s home.

Khan went inside, re-emerged with a backpack and pulled out a machete – leading Mr Greenhalgh to put his arms up to protect himself.

“Luckily I did because the machete was chompin’ into my arms,” he told police.

Khan said: “I’m going to fucking kill you … Allah, Allah.”

Greenhalgh received injuries to his right arm, left hand, his face and lungs, and was off work for four months.

A neighbour testified that Khan described Greenhalgh’s blood as “beautiful” and said: “These people tried to kill my brothers and sisters in Iraq” and “Kill me, I’m here to die”.

Khan told a psychiatrist he had seen Greenhalgh walking past on the morning of the stabbing before he spent time watching footage of air strikes with children being killed by American forces and gang rapes of Muslim women.

“He wanted to kill someone who he viewed to be anti-Muslim and die himself, to be a martyr,” a defence psychiatrist said. “The jinn was instructing him to behave in that alleged behaviour.”

Justice Geoffrey Bellew will hear sentencing submissions on 23 May.

Source: The Guardian