A Melbourne teenager who planned an Anzac Day terrorist attack has been sentenced to 10 years in prison at the Supreme Court in Victoria.
Sevdet Besim has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Photo: Instagram
Sevdet Ramadan Besim, 19, had planned to run down and behead a police officer at an Anzac Day remembrance march in the city in 2015.
He pleaded guilty to doing an act in preparation, or planning, for a terrorist attack - an offence which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
In sentencing, Justice Michael Croucher described the plans as "evil" and designed to "strike fear into the community".
"That Mr Besim was planning such an outrageous and gruesome act of murder must terrify law enforcement officers across this country, their loved ones and right-thinking members of the community," Justice Croucher said.
"It was also evil because, among other things, the planned behaviour was calculated to undermine the authority of the institutions of government ... and to use Mr Besim's own words, 'to make sure the dogs remember this as well as their fallen heroes on Anzac Day'."
But he told the court there was evidence Besim wanted to pull out from his plans, and that he was young, intelligent and had good prospects for rehabilitation.
He said Besim had the strong support of his family and friends, a large number of whom were in court for the sentencing.
Besim had been seeing a moderate imam and would also be going through a reasonably lengthy de-radicalisation programme, Justice Croucher told the court.
Justice Croucher said he did not want to crush that with a heavy sentence.
He said it was clear Besim had been radicalised by older extremists who had influenced him at quite a vulnerable time of his life.
Besim receives reduced sentence for guilty plea
Besim, from Hallam in Melbourne's south-east, had discussed his plans with a British teenager, who is now serving a minimum five-year jail term after pleading guilty to inciting the Anzac Day terrorist plot.
Justice Croucher said Besim thought the UK teen was a married man with children.
"Chillingly, they spoke of different ways in which this unthinkable crime might be committed, as if talking about something as ordinary as football tactics," Justice Croucher said.
The court previously heard that Besim and the British teenager also discussed painting a kangaroo in Islamic State symbols, packing its pouch with explosives and letting it loose in the city.
Besim was a friend of Numan Haider, who was shot dead by counter-terrorism officers after he attacked them with a knife in Endeavour Hills Police Station in 2014.
He planned the terrorist attack in an "immature response" to the death of his friend, his defence lawyer told the court earlier this year.
He was arrested in counter-terrorism raids a week before the public holiday last year.
Justice Croucher said while Besim's plans were "relatively simple", they were the result of months of forethought and "a hatred" for law enforcement.
"These were not fleeting thoughts and actions abandoned as quickly as they came to mind, rather they were actions in pursuit of beliefs held for a considerable period of time," he said.
"In addition, Mr Besim had done virtually all of the preparation and planning required for the murder and was only a week away from attempting it when, fortunately, his plan was uncovered and he was arrested."
Besim, who would have received a 15-year sentence had he not pleaded guilty, will be eligible for parole in seven-and-a-half years.
- ABC
