A Sydney man has been charged under New South Wales terror laws after police arrested him during “a short struggle” at a home in Redfern.

The 24-year-old man was arrested on Friday after police conducted an unscheduled search of his Redfern home and viewed “items” on his mobile phone.

He was taken to the Botany Bay police station and charged under the Terrorism High Risk Offenders Act.

The police, who seized the man’s phone, allege he had failed to comply with interim supervision orders recently imposed on him.

He was charged with several terror-related offences, and the police also said he resisted arrest.

The man was refused bail to appear at the Parramatta bail court on Saturday. </s> Police say they arrested the man after ‘a short struggle’ at a home in Redfern

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A Sydney man has been charged under New South Wales terror laws after police arrested him during “a short struggle” at a home in Redfern.

The 24-year-old man was arrested on Friday after police conducted an unscheduled search of his Redfern home and viewed “items” on his mobile phone.

He was taken to the Botany Bay police station and charged under the Terrorism High Risk Offenders Act.

The police, who seized the man’s phone, allege he had failed to comply with interim supervision orders recently imposed on him.

He was charged with several terror-related offences, and the police also said he resisted arrest.

The man was refused bail to appear at the Parramatta bail court on Saturday. </s> An Aboriginal man has walked free from jail on Monday despite recommendations by the The Terrorism High Risk Offenders Assessment Committee.

Greg Ceissman allegedly converted to Islamic State ideology while serving time in jail for car theft, driving while disqualified and resisting police.

According to the Australian, the 24-year-old is accused of plotting a bomb threat to Bankstown Shopping Centre and made threats to Marrickville police station.

The Terrorism High Risk Offenders Assessment Committee recommended he stayed behind bars but Justice Stephen Rothman signed off on Ceissman's release from prison.

His release was subject to strict interim supervision orders which include refraining from using the internet at his father's home in Redfern.

Conditions also included unexpected visits, wearing an ankle bracelet, letting authorities know of his movements and to stay away from Marrickville.

It is believed Ceissman lived in Marrickville before he was incarcerated and had clashed with local police on multiple occasions.

Five days after his release from prison, Ceissman was arrested for researching a map of the New South Wales police academy on Google.

He is accused of breaching his supervision order by looking at the map during one of his unexpected visits by police.

It was flagged as a concern due to previous threats involving the inner-west police station.

NSW police and the Department of Corrective Services established the High Risk Terrorism Offenders Unit last year to identify jail extremists.

It allows police to obtain detention orders for extremists inside prison and orders extended supervision for terrorist sympathisers once they are released. </s> Sydney: Four men accused of plotting to bring down a plane planned to use poisonous gas or a crude bomb disguised as a meat mincer, reports said on Monday, with Australian officials calling preparations "advanced".

The men -- reportedly two Lebanese-Australian fathers and their sons -- were arrested in raids across Sydney on Saturday evening.

The Sydney Daily Telegraph said they allegedly planned to carry the device on board a commercial flight from Sydney to a Middle East destination as hand luggage.

It said the idea was to use wood scrapings and explosive material inside a piece of kitchen equipment such as a mincing machine.

The Sydney Morning Herald also reported that a mincer was being examined, while The Australian newspaper cited multiple sources as saying it was a "non-traditional" device that could have emitted a toxic sulphur-based gas.

This, it said, would have killed or immobilised everyone on the aircraft.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the plans were "advanced" but refused to comment on the conflicting claims over the method of attack.

"I have to respect the integrity of the investigations," he said.

"But I can say that certainly, the police will allege they had the intent and were developing the capability.

"There will obviously be more to say over coming days. It will be alleged that this was an Islamist, extremist terrorist motivation."

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin on Sunday said the aviation industry was potentially a target and that an improvised explosive device was involved.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan on Monday called the plans "quite sophisticated".

"It was a plot to bring down an aircraft with the idea of smuggling a device on to it to enable them to do that," he said.

A magistrate late Sunday gave police an additional seven days to detain the men, who have not been officially named, without charge.

Police continued to gather evidence Monday at the five homes raided, warning the investigation would be "very long and protracted".

TV footage on Saturday showed riot police moving into a terraced house in the inner-city suburb of Surry Hills, with a man with a bandage on his head being led away by authorities, draped in a blanket.

A woman at the address denied they had any link to terrorism.

Security has been strengthened at major domestic and international airports across Australia since the raids, with passengers asked to arrive early and to limit their baggage.

Australia`s national terror alert level was raised on September 2014 amid concerns over attacks by individuals inspired by organisations such as Islamic State.

A total of 12 attacks, before the latest one, have been prevented in the past few years, while 70 people have been charged.

Several terror attacks have taken place in Australia in recent years, including a Sydney cafe siege in 2014 that saw two hostages killed. </s> Barnawartha police shooting: Men had potential for radicalisation, commissioner says

Victoria's police commissioner says two men shot by police yesterday had converted to Islam while in prison and were exposed to ideologies that were "problematic from a terrorism point of view".

The men were shot and injured by police yesterday afternoon in Barnawartha North near the New South Wales border.

The pair, brothers aged 19 and 30, wielded a knife and a tomahawk and rammed the police car during the confrontation at the Richardsons Bend campsite, police said.

Officers believe they had recently relocated to Victoria from NSW, where they had been in prison, and were of interest to counterterror police.

The attack itself was not terrorism-related and there was no ongoing threat, police said.

The 30-year-old was in a critical but stable condition in a hospital in Melbourne this morning, while the 19-year-old was in a serious but stable condition in Albury.

Police said one officer was injured, but not seriously.

Speaking to ABC Radio Melbourne this morning, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said one of the men was "wanted on an old warrant" and counterterrorism police had been looking to speak to him.

But said the men were "not regarded as high risk from a counterterrorism point of view", the commissioner said.

Mr Ashton said there was no evidence the men were planning any kind of attack, but there was intelligence that suggested there was the "potential for radicalisation … because of their extensive criminal history".

"[There had been] some intelligence around them having ideologies that were problematic from a terrorism point of view," he said.

"So [investigators] were trying to clarify where they were at, and having a conversation with them was what they were after," Mr Ashton said.

Mr Ashton said it was "not unusual" for people to become radicalised within the NSW prison system.

In a statement, NSW Corrective Services said: "We can confirm the two offenders were not radicalised while in a NSW prison".

Last night, Acting Assistant Commissioner Clive Rust said police were "making routine inquiries in order to touch base with them, talk to them, assess them and make a judgement on whether or not they posed any risk".

Mr Ashton said the men were likely to be charged over yesterday's alleged attack once their health had improved.

Homicide Squad detectives will investigate the shooting, with oversight from Professional Standards Command, as is standard protocol after a police shooting. </s> Police in Australia have raided properties in several Sydney suburbs and arrested four men suspected of plotting a terrorist attack.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the counter-terrorism raids were designed to stop "terrorist attacks in Australia".

Fairfax Media, News Corp and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the raids were related to a bomb plot involving aircraft.

The operation was carried out by the Australian Federal Police, New South Wales state police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the country's domestic spy agency.

Seven Network television reported that 40 riot squad officers stormed an inner Sydney house before an explosives team found a suspicious device. </s> SYDNEY — Australian officials say police have raided properties in several Sydney suburbs and arrested four men suspected of plotting a terrorist attack.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the counter-terrorism raids Saturday were designed to stop “terrorist attacks in Australia.”

 Turnbull the raids were related to a bomb plot involving aircraft and that police had recovered significant evidence.

The operation was carried out by the Australian Federal police, New South Wales state police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the country’s domestic spy agency. </s> Sydney stabbing suspect arrested after woman found dead and another injured in CBD

Updated

Police have linked the murder of a woman to a stabbing rampage in central Sydney which left another woman in hospital.

Key points: Members of the public apprehended the man using a milk crate, chair and crowbar

Police confirmed a 21-year-old woman found dead in a unit block nearby was linked to the incident that shut down part of the city

Another woman has been taken to St Vincent's Hospital with a stab wound

The body of the 21-year-old woman was found in an apartment complex on Clarence Street, a short distance from where a man, identified as 21-year-old Mert Ney, was wielding a large butcher's knife and later restrained by bystanders.

Police said the incident — which they described as "terrifying carnage" — did not appear to be terror related, the suspect had no known terrorist links and he was acting on his own.

Officers are currently searching the suspect's home near Blacktown in Sydney's west.

The ABC understands the man escaped from a mental health facility and police confirmed he had a history of mental health problems.

The injured woman, a 41-year-old who police said was stabbed in the back in a "random attack", remains in a stable condition in Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital.

Reports of a man armed with a large knife on the streets of Sydney first emerged about 2:00pm, sparking a major police operation.

In what police described as "heroic" actions, passers-by and firefighters used chairs, a crowbar and a milk crate to apprehend the alleged offender, before he was arrested by authorities.

Police said the investigation was "live and ongoing".

"He was clearly dangerous and had motive," NSW Police Commissioner Michael Fuller said.

"But it is not currently classed as a terrorist incident, as the investigation continues we will reassess that."

However, Commissioner Fuller said a thumb drive linked to the alleged offender suggested he had "some ideologies" in relation to terrorism.

"[It was] information [on] mass deaths and mass casualties around the world, namely from North America and New Zealand," he said.

"He was known to police but his history was unremarkable."

'He is going to kill you'

Channel 7 cameraman Paul Walker, who was stuck in traffic in the area at 2:00pm and spotted the alleged offender running down the street, told the ABC the man was "covered in blood" carrying a large knife.

"He jumped on the roof of the car behind us," he said.

"Then suddenly these firies who were in a firetruck a couple of vehicles in front jumped out.

"They had axes in their hand and were yelling at him to stop, put his weapon down and he just ignored them."

The man then ran down a nearby street.

"Another person [on the street] was screaming at people to get out of the way, the fact he had a knife and the fact he is going to kill you," Walker said.

He said the alleged offender was then knocked to the ground by a member of the public who grabbed a chair and "whacked him".

"Seconds later he was just piled on by quite a few people."

When the man fell he dropped a knife into the gutter.

NSW Police Superintendent Gavin Wood said the man had tried to stab others.

"There has been, again, subsequent to that stabbing a number of attempted stabbings by the same offender," he said.

'These people are heroes'

Superintendent Wood lauded the actions of the bystanders who restrained the alleged offender and called them "heroes".

"They were brave and I can only use that word seriously — they were significantly brave people," he said.

"To approach a person with a mindset of obviously what this person did, with clear evidence of a stabbing previously, these people are heroes."

The man has been taken to Day Street Police Station.

A number of crime scenes have been established and a number of road closures are in place.

Topics: crime, police, sydney-2000

First posted </s> MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australian police have charged three men with committing terrorist acts on suspicion of starting fires at a Shiite Muslim mosque in Melbourne last year, inspired by Islamic State and intending to divide the Muslim community.

 Two of the men are already in custody and awaiting trial on suspicion of plotting bomb attacks in Australia's second largest city last year, while a third – a 29-year-old Melbourne man – was arrested late on Saturday.

 All three face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment over the arson attack at the Imam Ali Islamic Centre in December 2016.

 Australian Federal Police's counter terrorism national manager said that attacking a place of worship had no place in society.

 “It is clear that these arson attacks were designed to intimidate and influence those that attend this mosque and the wider Islamic community," Assistant Commissioner Ian McCartney said on Sunday.

 Australia, a staunch U.S. ally that has sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, has been on heightened alert since 2014 for attacks by home-grown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East, or their supporters.

 While there have been several "lone wolf" attacks, officials say 13 significant plots have been foiled in that time.

 Police say the three men were adherents of militant Sunni Muslim ideology. 

 Police said the arrest of the man on Saturday came after extensive investigations into fires at the Melbourne mosque – but said it did not relate to any direct threat to the community.

 The other two men facing charges are in custody and awaiting trial for allegedly planning militant attacks around Christmas Day 2016 in Melbourne.

 The two, a 25-year-old and a 27-year-old, will also be charged with terrorist offences for causing a previous fire at the Imam Ali Islamic Centre in November 2016.

 The man arrested on Saturday will appear in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Sunday, while the other two will appear in court on Monday. 

 This month, two men were charged with terror-related offences after authorities disrupted what they described as an Islamic State-inspired plot to bomb an Etihad Airways flight.

 Another man arrested in relation to the foiled plot was charged with weapons offences and released on bail. A fourth man was released without charge.

 A gunman in a 2014 Sydney cafe siege boasted about links with Islamic State militants, although no direct ties with the group were established. The gunman and two other people were killed in the siege.

 

 (Reporting by Joseph Hinchliffe; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Police in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, charge a man with several crimes under the Terrorism High Risk Offenders Act.