AFP terror plotter still holds 'animosity' to police

A man who plotted a terror attack on Australian Federal Police headquarters still holds "clear animosity" towards law enforcement following his release from prison, a court has been told.

Ibrahim Ghazzawy, 28, was convicted of terror offences and sentenced to eight years in jail, serving his full sentence before walking free in December 2023.

Justice Richard Button heard evidence from two psychology experts on Monday, as the court probed Ghazzawy's state of mind and risk of reoffending.

The experts agreed Ghazzawy likely still held a sense of grievance against law enforcement, dating back till at least 2014 when his passport was confiscated over concerns he would travel to fight with Islamic State in Syria.

Forensic psychiatrist Kerri Eagle said that sense of “injustice” and “grievance” played a role in him crafting a document with plans to attack AFP headquarters.

“Mr Ghazzawy has consistently identified one of the reasons for his behaviour was the grievance he had against AFP," Dr Eagle told the court.

"He felt unjustly targeted by them. 

“He sees this as an ongoing injustice."

Dr Eagle said Ghazzawy "still has clear animosity towards police” but was more likely now to act "passively aggressively", rather than overtly aggressively or violently.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is seeking to impose a 12-month extended supervision order on Ghazzawy through the NSW Supreme Court.

The mechanism allows the monitoring of released prisoners who might still pose a risk to the community.

Much of Ghazzawy's prison term was spent in Goulburn jail's notorious "high-risk management unit" alongside other convicted extremists.

The experts also identified ongoing associations with his co-accused as being potentially problematic.

Forensic psychologist Patrick Sheehan called the men “clearly the worst people he could hang around".

Mr Sheehan said there was a realistic risk of Ghazzawy going down a path towards reoffending.

Upon his release in December, the attorney-general successfully imposed an urgent interim supervision order on Ghazzawy, limiting his movements and interactions.

By the age of 18, Ghazzawy had adopted the religious and philosophical ideologies of Islamic State and was "committed to violent jihad", according to the judgment from the time.

In around 2014, he attempted to travel with a friend to Morocco for what he claimed was a holiday.

Australian security services seized Ghazzawy's passport under the belief the teenager may have been trying to join the war in Syria, preventing him from leaving the country. 

Documents detailing Ghazzawy's plans to carry out terrorist acts were found to have been shared among a number of other men who affirmed his views.

In imposing the initial supervision order, Justice Button described some of Ghazzawy's plans as "fantastical", including living off the land in the bush and radicalising Indigenous people to wage a prolonged war against Australian security forces.

He noted Ghazzawy's incorrect use of the term “gorilla warfare” as a measure of his military knowledge.

The hearing continues on Tuesday.

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