A 16-year-old boy has been charged with multiple terrorism offences after allegedly accessing “guides” on how to commit a “mass casualty event”, a court has heard.
The boy appeared before a children’s court in Sydney on Wednesday, where a commonwealth prosecutor said the teenager had accessed the materials “for the purpose of a contemplated mass casualty attack”.
The guides – which Guardian Australia has chosen not to name – provide instructions on how to kill and commit mass causality events with different weapons, including with knives, the court heard.
He was on Tuesday charged with five terrorism offences, one being the collecting and making of documents likely to facilitate a terrorist act.
In a statement, the Australian federal police said the child was first charged with weapons offences in December, after the New South Wales joint counter-terrorism team received reports of someone making violent threats online. Police allegedly found a flick knife and a gel blaster during a search of his home.
A review of the devices then allegedly uncovered violent extremist material and documents containing information that could help carry out a terror attack, the AFP said.
“It will be alleged the young person held a mixed ideology and outlined plans for acts of violence,” the AFP said.
The group who created the guides are known to partner with white extremist organisations.
The boy was on Wednesday refused bail on the terror-related offences.
During the hearing, the court heard the boy has “severe mental health issues”, including a diagnosis of depression, and had been attending weekly counselling sessions voluntarily since he was initially released on bail in December.
During Tuesday’s arrest, he was allegedly found to be in possession of his mother’s mobile phone and a laptop, which magistrate Keisha Hopgood accepted was a breach of his bail.
But Hopgood said the terrorism offences were “significantly more concerning … certainly in regards to the material located on the devices”.
She said while the police had suggested to the court that there “may be some attention seeking behaviour” in what the boy had done, the threats were not just “mere words” and showed “planning”.
His Legal Aid lawyer told the court the boy had committed no other offences since being released on bail in December, and – other than being found with a phone and a laptop – had complied with strict bail conditions.
This included reporting to his local police station with his mother or grandmother – who were both in court on Wednesday – three times a week.
“He wants help and is help seeking and follows through with getting counselling which he has done,” the lawyer told the court during an unsuccessful application for bail.
The boy will return to court on 20 May, where another bail request is expected to be made.
The weapons offences carry a maximum sentence of 14 years in jail, while the most serious of the terrorism charges have a maximum sentence of 15 years.
