As terrorist plots go, it’s got to be one of the more unusual — an Australian teenager discussed packing a kangaroo full of explosives and painting it with the Islamic State’s symbol before setting it loose on police officers, a Melbourne court heard on Thursday.
Sevdet Besim, 19, allegedly talked to a British teenager about the plot, which included plans to behead or run over at least one police officer during a parade on Anzac Day — an Australian remembrance day for veterans and soldiers killed in conflict.
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The British boy, who cannot be named because he is only 15, was given a life sentence by a court in northern England in October 2015, after being convicted of sending thousands of messages to Besim and instructing him in a terrorist plot “shocking in its brutality and scope.”
Besim pleaded not guilty to four counts of planning a terrorist attack, and will stand trial in the state of Victoria’s supreme court. He also faces life imprisonment if found guilty.
Besim allegedly told his British acquaintance he was “ready to fight these dogs on there [sic] doorstep,” according to court documents.
“I’d love to take out some cops,” Besim is alleged to have said as the pair talked online. “I was gonna meet with them then take some heads ahaha.”
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Court documents detailed communications sent in the early hours of March 20 last year: “The conversation continues with Besim detailing what he did that day and they have a general discussion around animals and wildlife in Australia, including a suggestion that a kangaroo could be packed with C4 explosive, painted with the IS symbol and set loose on police officers.”
In one exchange of messages, the teenager suggested Besim get his “first taste of beheading” by attacking “a proper lonely person.”
The 15-year-old was the youngest person ever to be convicted of a terrorism offense last October. He adopted an older persona when he was put in touch with Besim by a well-known IS recruiter, Abu Khaled al Cambodi, an Australian fighting in Syria, the British court heard last year.
Besim and four others alleged to have plotted with him were arrested in Melbourne a week before Anzac Day, reported AP.
The group would have “in all probability” succeeded in their plan to murder police officers had British police not discovered the plot and alerted their Australian counterparts, the British court heard.
Related: Australian Police Arrest Two Men Before Alleged ‘Imminent’ Islamic State Terror Attack
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