Four members of an alleged Islamic State (IS) terror cell who appeared at Goulburn Local Court over the shooting of a New South Wales Police employee have had their bail formally denied.

Milad Atai, Mustafa Dirani and Raban Alou all appeared in court via video link on Thursday morning.

None were legally represented and chose not to apply for bail.

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A fourth man, Talal Alameddine, was represented in court but his lawyer also chose not to apply for bail.

During the brief appearance, Atai held up his index finger to the camera, a gesture associated with IS.

On Wednesday, he became the fourth person charged in connection to the fatal shooting of police accountant Curtis Cheng at Sydney’s Parramatta police headquarters in October, 2015.

Fifteen-year old Farhad Jabar was identified as the gunman who was shot dead by police after the attack.

The four men were yesterday transferred from Australia’s highest-security prison, the Supermax, to Bowral Police Station.

There, they were given new charges, including conspiring to do an act in preparation for a terrorist act, an offence which carries a maximum penalty of life in jail.

On Wednesday, Deputy New South Wales Police Commissioner Catherine Burn said the four men had been the chief suspects of the investigation into last year’s attack.

“This is an ongoing investigation but we believe that these four people are principals involved in the terrible crime that was committed,” she said.

“We have come across information that suggests to us they did come together on at least the day of and perhaps even the day before.”

All four men had their matters adjourned to Sydney’s Central Local Court with a date set down for June 9.