NT teen 'keyboard warrior' charged with terrorism offences seeks bail

A Northern Territory teenager charged with terrorism offences was a "young man fantasising while he's hating the world" and a "keyboard warrior" who should be "treated, not penalised" in custody, a court has heard.

The 14-year-old — who cannot be identified for legal reasons — was arrested on October 28, after the Joint Counter Terrorism Team searched his home following a tip-off from a member of the public.

He stands charged with 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.

The teenager faced the NT Youth Justice Court via video link today, with his family filling the gallery as his lawyer argued he should be granted bail to continue seeing a psychologist.

Defence lawyer Ian Rowbottam told the court the teenager was allegedly found in possession of videos featuring white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people at two New Zealand mosques in 2019, and of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.

He is also alleged to have been in possession of The Anarchist Cookbook, which was first published in the 1970s and includes instructions on how to make explosives and illicit drugs.

The court heard police also allege the boy had a document on his computer associated with white nationalists preparing for political conflict titled "hell fighter training", and another file featuring the words "blood lust" in red font.

He is also alleged to have possessed instructions on making a 3D-printed, semi-automatic gun.

Defence says teen 'troubled', not indoctrinated

Mr Rowbottam acknowledged his client had "looked at" the material, but said he was in no way dangerous, arguing "there is a very big difference between a young man fantasising while he's hating the world" and actually carrying out acts of violence.

"Yes, he is troubled, no, he is not indoctrinated, and in my submission, the suggestion of him being a danger to anyone would [need to] rely on some assertion that he is somehow indoctrinated into the far-right ideas," he said.

"There is, in my submission, no link between this young man and far-right ideas.

"Incarceration is not going to achieve that, it will make the situation worse."

Mr Rowbottam said his client had "no finances or ability" to obtain material to make a 3D-printed gun, instructions for which he argued were "widely available on the internet".

He said while the Crown alleged the teen had a formula for gun powder, there was "no suggestion of him trying to purchase any of this".

Mr Rowbottam said he had himself watched the video of the New Zealand massacre shortly after it happened and said the Columbine shooting video was "easily available" online.

He said the videos were "available on the internet" and "you don't need to get on the dark web to find them".

Mr Rowbottam said while there was no doubt those attacks were carried out by extremists, he disagreed with the Commonwealth's position that the material in itself promoted an extremist ideology.

He said he understood "blood lust" was a "C-grade" film.

'Acting out' after loss

Mr Rowbottam argued there were exceptional circumstances justifying the teenager's release to his mother's home, including that his stepfather had recently died, and that he should be "treated, not penalised".

He proposed conditions including a curfew and no access to the internet.

"We say the distress from the passing of his stepfather has put him in a position of acting out," he said.

Mr Rowbottam said the teenager had been receiving treatment for mental health issues for the past year but since being taken into custody had only received one session with a psychologist, which his mother had paid for.

Prosecutors opposed bail, but Judge Thomasin Opie requested a report on whether the teenager could access specialist help in custody.

Judge Opie reserved her decision on bail and the boy is scheduled to return to court on Friday.