Teen’s sick gun boasts
In this chilling picture a teenage wannabe jihadi (right) shows his older recruiters his impatience to spill blood. Using weapons he took from his uncle’s gun safe, the 14-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, struck several poses, including a horrifyingly confident sniper position.
IN this chilling picture, a teenage wannabe jihadi shows his older recruiters his impatience to spill blood.
Using weapons he took from his uncle’s gun safe, the 14-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, struck several poses, including this horrifyingly confident sniper position.
In the images, the young fanatic handles the weapons with ease, with one picture demonstrating the boy’s loyalty to the murderous Islamic State, with an index finger pointing skyward in an imitation of the terrorists’ salute.
The pictures were shown at the NSW Supreme Court in Parramatta during the teenager’s sentencing submission hearing alongside his fellow terror conspirators Sulayman Khalid, 22 and Mohamed Almaouie, 21.
The court heard he “envisaged himself as a religious hero able to achieve martyrdom” and was “recruited” by older men, quickly becoming a key figure in a plan to kill police.
He sent the images via mobile to his co-conspirators.
The youngster even pushed Khalid to start guns training with him. In a sign of his eagerness to carry out an attack, the teenager sent Khalid a text message that read: “I’ll be with, I’ll be with the virgins of Paradise, with the permission of Allah, the Most High ASAP.”
The boy’s uncle held a legal firearm permit and there is no suggestion the guns in the pictures were obtained or stored illegally.
A statement of facts tendered to the court reveals Khalid and the teen exchanged hundreds of phone calls and texts, frequently talking about becoming martyrs and the joy it would bring them.
The court has previously heard the teenager, Khalid and four other conspirators – Jibryl Almaouie, his brother Mohamed, Farhad Said and Ibrahim Ghazzawy – wanted “to advance violent jihad” and were amassing an arsenal late in 2014 as they planned to attack the AFP’s Sydney HQ and other targets.
All have pleaded guilty to taking part in a conspiracy to plan terror attacks but the teenager’s lawyer told the court yesterday his client “was plainly recruited”.
“His adherence to violent jihad was a creature of his youth, immaturity and other influences on him,” his lawyer said.
The teen, Khalid and Almaouie are due to be sentenced on November 3.