NT teen terror suspect is a 'keyboard warrior' who needs treatment, lawyer tells court

The teenager, who cannot be named, faced the NT Youth Justice Court by video link on Wednesday, with his family packed into the gallery. Defence lawyer Ian Rowbottam argued he should be released so he can keep seeing his psychologist, calling him a young man who is troubled but not indoctrinated.

He was arrested on October 28 after the Joint Counter Terrorism Team searched his home, acting on a tip-off from a member of the public. He faces one count of collecting documents likely to facilitate terrorist acts, one count of possessing violent extremist material, and one count of possessing or controlling firearms and explosives manufacture material.

Prosecutors allege the boy had videos of Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people at two New Zealand mosques in 2019, and of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. Police also point to The Anarchist Cookbook, a document tied to white nationalists called hell fighter training, a file reading blood lust in red font, and instructions for building a 3D-printed semi-automatic gun.

Rowbottam conceded his client had looked at the material but said there is a very big difference between a young man fantasising while hating the world and actually carrying out violence. He said the boy has no finances or ability to buy materials for a 3D-printed gun, and that the videos and instructions are easily found online. He told the court he watched the Christchurch video himself and that blood lust was, to his understanding, a C-grade film.

The defence is pushing for bail at his mother's home with a curfew and no internet access, citing the recent death of his stepfather as an exceptional circumstance. Rowbottam said the boy had been treated for mental health issues for a year but has had just one psychologist session in custody, paid for by his mother. Prosecutors opposed bail, and the AFP says the boy and a teenage girl charged with similar offences last week knew each other.

Judge Thomasin Opie asked for a report on whether the teenager can access specialist help in custody, reserved her decision on bail, and set his return to court for Friday.