Young Canadian pleads guilty to four terrorism offences

Today, in the Ontario Court of Justice sitting as a youth justice court, a 17-year-old pleaded guilty to the following four terrorism offences contrary to the Criminal Code:

– Facilitating a terrorist activity, contrary to s. 83.19
– Having in his possession an explosive substance with the intent to endanger life or cause serious damage to property, contrary to s. 81(1)(d)
– Doing anything with the intent to cause an explosion of an explosive substance that was likely to cause serious bodily harm or death, contrary to s. 81(1)(a)
– Counselling someone to detonate an explosive device in a public place to cause serious injury or death, contrary to ss. 464(a) and 431.2

The young person, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was 16 years old at the time of his arrest on January 24, 2019. Today, he also pleaded guilty to a breach of undertaking from April 21, 2019 in relation to cutting his monitoring bracelet while released on bail. He has remained in custody since that date.

In an Agreed Statement of Facts filed with the court, the young person admitted to manufacturing an explosive substance, Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP), with the objective of manufacturing an explosive device to place either in a public place or to place under a police or military vehicle with the intent of killing innocent people.

The objective was to commit terrorist activities for the benefit of a listed terrorist entity (that called itself the “Islamic State”). A search of his residence resulted in the seizure of all the necessary materials to build an explosive device.

He also admitted to creating a PowerPoint presentation detailing the instructions on building a successful pressure cooker bomb, and disseminating it through various communications applications. After providing the instructions, he counselled an individual to build the device and place it in a bar, a public place, in order to kill innocent people for a political, religious or ideological purpose.

PPSC Prosecutor Tom Lemon said, “The charges required significant domestic and international cooperation to effectively gather the necessary evidence, as terrorism respects no borders.”

Sentencing will occur at a later date.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada is a national organization responsible for prosecuting offences under federal jurisdiction in a manner that is free of any improper influence and that respects the public interest. The PPSC is also responsible for providing prosecution-related advice to law enforcement agencies across Canada.

Source: Newswire