Australian teen convicted for terror plot

Justice Michael Croucher of the Supreme Court of Victoria described 19-year-old Sevdet Ramadan Besim's plan as a "putrid act" aimed at advancing violent jihad, intimidating the government and igniting fear in the community.

"To the vast majority of the community, it's unfathomable an 18-year-old boy planned to kill a law enforcement officer, to crash into him with a car and then behead him with a knife," Croucher told the court.

The judge justified the 10-year-long jail sentence, saying he did not expect the teen to have renounced violent jihadism and that protecting the community from Besim's "evil" and "terrifying" plans was an important consideration.

Besim pleaded guilty to the act of terror planned for the 2015 Anzac Day, which commemorates veterans who served in Australia and New Zealand's military. The plan was uncovered when British police discovered phone communication between Besim and a 15-year-old British boy.

According to the court, Besim and his British accomplice discussed, among others, packing a kangaroo with explosives and setting it loose on Australian police officers. This plan was not part of the Anzac Day terror plot. The British teenager was sentenced to life earlier this year. Police said they found a hand-drawn flag of the "Islamic State" (IS) in Besim's cell, which also had newspaper clippings on violent jihadists abroad.

Besim was radicalized by older extremists active at the al-Furqan Islamic Center in Melbourne. The 19-year-old felt alienated from society after his close friend Numan Haider was shot dead outside a police station after stabbing two officers.

Australia has witnessed several "lone wolf" attacks in the last years, including a siege in a Sydney cafe, which left the hostage-taker and two people dead. Around 100 people have left the country to fight with IS fighters in Syria and Iraq.

mg/jil (Reuters, dpa)