Teen who planned Auckland attack took weapon to hockey game

An Auckland teen who, after years of isolation and online radicalisation, took steps to plan a local terrorist attack that he hoped would kill 20 to 30 non-Muslims has been sentenced to two years and five months’ imprisonment.

The North Shore resident, now 21, sat in the dock in the High Court at Auckland today nodding as Justice Rebecca Edwards announced the term at the conclusion of a lengthy name suppression and sentencing hearing.

She pointed out that diary entries obtained by the police indicated that on three occasions the defendant had left his house intending to carry out attacks, including a time when he brought a kitchen knife to a hockey game but forgot about his aim after encountering people who were nice to him.

“It was the kindness of strangers that stopped you that day,” the judge said. “But … you were well down the track of acting on your plan.”

Justice Edwards adjourned the defence’s application for permanent name suppression so more evidence could be obtained before she makes a decision. He continues to have interim suppression in the meantime.

The teen had first taken an interest in Isis in 2017, when he was about 16. About four years later, after police tried to reach out to him and were met with rejection, an undercover officer contacted him on social media posing as a fellow Isis sympathiser.

The conversation that followed lasted about a month and included the teen confiding that he was ready to take the next step — an Auckland-based terrorist attack. He shared with the undercover officer a list of his potential attack sites and extensive details about how he might carry it out.

But police brought what was known as Operation Strand to a quick conclusion in September 2021, just days after an unrelated terror attack in a New Lynn supermarket in which several shoppers were stabbed. Shortly after the attack, the defendant said he was inspired and wanted to move his own plan forward.

Police realised at that point that the risk of leaving him in the community any longer was “simply unacceptable”, Crown prosecutor Henry Steele said today.

The defendant pleaded guilty in November to one count of threatening to kill, two counts of supplying objectionable publications and six counts of possession of objectionable publications. He faced up to 14 years in prison for the charges.

Police executed a search warrant at the teen’s home on September 8, 2021, confirming many of the details that had been discussed by the defendant in previous weeks of online chats. In his bedroom was found one of the ingredients used to make triacetone triperoxide — better known by the acronym TATP — an unstable explosive compound often favoured by suicide bombers.

Police also gained access to his Google Cloud account, which included folders titled “Terror plot Recons” and “Isis supporter-recruit”. In the recruit folder were videos in which the teen swore allegiance to the Islamic State and claimed “Jihad and retribution against the New Zealand Government and New Zealand Society and in general against the West”.

“The defendant states that he is ready for martyrdom and will commit a terror attack after he has done more research,” court documents indicate.

The “Terror plot Recons” folder included photos, seemingly taken from the internet, of locations such as Auckland Town Hall, Spark Arena, SkyCity and multiple restaurants. The folder also included diary entries in which the teen referred to having visited Auckland Airport, Albany Westfield mall and other locations for reconnaissance purposes.

“Throughout the diary entries, the defendant states his intent to kill multiple people by committing a terror attack in Auckland City,” court documents state.

Additional folders were titled “3D Firearms Manufacture”, “Bomb Instructions” and “Knives and Knife combat training”.

Police were first made aware of the teen in June 2021 because of his social media behaviour. One account showed he was following accounts known to share Isis material.

Posing as a fellow Isis sympathiser under the screen name Ozarikon, authorities quickly appeared to obtain the teen’s trust and get him to open up about his plans.

“In those conversations, the defendant expressed a desire to travel to Syria and support the Islamic State,” court documents state. “On the 5th August 2021, the defendant shared … that he had a plan B. If he could not travel overseas, he wanted to do an attack in Auckland.

“The defendant discussed at length various options around committing an attack. These included a knife attack, vehicle attack or an explosive attack using TATP.”

He also revealed he already had instructions to build a bomb and could easily obtain the materials.

The teen also revealed that he had put together a tactical gear kit including camouflage clothing, flip knives, gloves and a baseball cap. Police would later find the kit as they searched his home.

After the search warrant was executed, police took a deeper look into his online files, resulting in the six charges of possession of objectionable publications. In all, there were 360 videos found in his files that were thought to be related to Isis, including graphic, banned footage of terror attacks and child soldiers carrying out an execution. He also had a banned copy of the Christchurch mosque attacker’s racist manifesto.

The two distribution of objectionable material charges against him related to a publication produced by Al-Qaeda that he forwarded, as well as a video that included an instructional video on decapitation using a live subject.

Defence lawyer Annabel Cresswell noted today her client’s possession of the Christchurch terrorist manifesto – involving discrimination against Muslims – as proof it was less about Islamic radicalisation than a desire to connect with someone online.

He has not expressed a desire to convert to Islam, she said.

“There’s real doubt as to whether he could have or would have carried out an attack of any kind,” she said, referring to her client’s complex conditions. “He doesn’t have the focus or the real ability to have carried out an attack.”

But Justice Edwards said prison was the best place for the defendant at this time as he continues his rehabilitation.

“Safety has to be the priority,” she said.

Source: newstalkzb