Teen accused in Anzac Day suicide-kangaroo plot

A 19-YEAR-OLD man from the Melbourne suburb of Hallam is facing life in prison after allegedly plotting to hide C4 explosives in a kangaroo´s pouch and set it on police during 2015 Anzac Day events held to commemorate antipodeans who served in World War One. 

Prosecutors at Melbourne Magistrates Court heard how the accused, Sevdet Besim, revealed his plan in an online exchange with a British accomplice, divulging that he intended to paint the marsupial with the Daesh symbol. 

In the same conversation Mr Besim is alleged to have expressed his desire to run over or behead a police officer, saying he was “ready to fight these dogs on there (sic) doorstep.”

One week before the national day of remembrance in April 2015, counter-terror raids on Melbourne homes resulted in the arrest of Besim and four alleged conspirators, one of whom was a 15-year-old British boy from Blackburn who appeared before Manchester Crown Court in October 2015 and was controversially sentenced to life imprisonment. He is reported to be the youngest Briton to be found guilty of a terror offence. 

During his January 28 appearance at the Magistrates Court hearing, Mr Besim, who has been remanded in custody since his 2015 arrest, pleaded not guilty to five charges related to planning a terror attack, one of which was later withdrawn. 

If convicted, Mr Besim will also look forward to a life behind bars. He will appear before judges at the Supreme Court of Victoria on February 3.