Teenager charged with preparing for terrorism act in Melbourne
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Version 0 of 1. A 17-year-old Melbourne boy has been charged with planning a terrorism attack using homemade bombs. The teenager was charged with terrorism-related offences following a raid at a house in Greenvale in Melbourne’s north on Friday night. It is alleged he was preparing a terrorist attack in Australia, an allegation that has left his family shocked and distraught. While police say they can’t be sure where or when the attack would occur, Australian federal police deputy commissioner Michael Phelan says they are sure the threat was “imminent”. He described the three improvised explosive devices found at the home as “rudimentary”, but said the raids were necessary to protect the public. The bomb squad later detonated the explosive devices at a nearby park after setting up an exclusion zone. “As a result of Australian federal police and Victoria police actions yesterday, some Victorians are going to be alive because of it,” Phelan said on Saturday. Equipment associated with making explosive devices was also found during a search of the property, he said. Victorian acting deputy commissioner Robert Hill said the case had been subject to an intense investigation “especially over the last nine days”, following a tip-off from a member of the public. He said he was confident police had this particular threat contained and that no other family members were involved. “We have dealt with his family ... they are now very, very distraught as a consequence of what is alleged,” Hill said. “It has undoubtedly taken them by surprise.” Due to the youth’s age, police were careful in what they could say on Saturday, but Phelan said it was “deeply troubling” that young people would consider engaging in such acts. The young man has been remanded in custody and is expected to face a closed children’s court hearing on Monday. His name will not be released. The prime minister, Tony Abbott, who was in Darwin, said it was a “tragic truth” that there were people who wanted to do Australians harm. “The best thing you can do right now is live your life normally because the point of terrorism is to scare us out of being ourselves,” Abbott said. “Because after all, our freedom, our fairness, our tolerance, our welcome to people from all around the world ... that’s what the death cult and its supporters hate.” Police say there are no links to Operation Rising, in which 200 heavily armed officers stormed properties in Melbourne’s southeast on April 18, over an alleged Islamic State-inspired terror plot planned for Anzac Day. In those raids, five men were arrested, and three were later charged. Nor can police confirm if the raids were linked to a reported arrest of a 14-year-old boy in Sydney on Friday. The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, thanked security agencies for their professionalism and dedication following Friday’s raids. “This intense and methodical operation kept Victorians safe,” he said on Saturday. Andrews would not comment further on the specifics of the case but he said the government would continue to work with agencies to ensure Victorians were kept out of harm’s way. |