Terror raid: suspects denied bail
A Sydney man who allegedly breached a terrorism-related control order has been refused bail in court.
The 21-year-old, who canât be named for legal reasons, was arrested on Tuesday by police for the alleged breach of the order as part of continuing investigations into the alleged planning of a terrorist attack on Australian soil.
After a brief hearing at Parramatta Local Court on Wednesday, magistrate Ian McRae refused to grant bail to the man after an application was made by his lawyer, Arjun Chhabra.
â˘Â PM warns of âterrorist chatterâ post siege
In refusing bail, Mr McRae said there was an âunacceptable riskâ to the community that further offences could be committed.
âThere has been non-compliance on two occasions by the accused,â he told the court.
âBail is to be refused.â
The court heard the âinterim control orderâ was granted by the federal court on December 17 and served on the man the following day.
A lawyer for the commonwealth told the court one of the conditions of the order was that âhe is prohibited to access specified forms of telecommunicationsâ.
She said the man had breached the order by making a phone call from a public pay phone and also from a mobile phone he was not approved to use.
She called it a âdeliberate ⌠defiance of the conditions of the control orderâ, noting that the breach carried a maximum penalty of five years in jail.
She said the âcourt must not grant the bail unless the court is satisfied exceptional circumstances exist to justify bail.
âThere are no exceptional circumstances to justify bail.
âThe court could have no confidence in the defendantâs behaviour while at liberty,â the crown lawyer said.
Arguing for bail, Mr Chhabra described the breaches as âincredibly technicalâ.
âThere is no suggestion that anything nefarious was discussed,â he told the court.
He said in one of the calls, his client discussed exercise âand nothing moreâ, and that the unauthorised mobile number used belonged to the accusedâs mother.
âThere is no suggestion the phone calls ⌠were made to evade the authorities,â he said. âItâs not open to the authorities to make a finding of evasion.â
But Mr McRae rejected the argument, noting there was âgreat disquietâ in the community on matters related to terrorism.
The matter was adjourned to Sydney Central Local Court on February 25.
[jwplayer mediaid=â184333âł]







