A teenager accused of taking part in a violent riot and damaging two police cars after the stabbing of a Sydney bishop says he made a mistake but he was angry about officers' violence.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was attacked during a live-streamed sermon to those at Christ the Good Shepherd Church at Wakeley in Sydney's western suburbs on Monday night.
The incident sparked volatile scenes outside the church, where a crowd of people gathered over several hours as parts of the unruly crowd peppered police and other emergency service personnel with projectiles.
An estimated 2000 people took part in the "riotous assembly", according to court documents.
Dani Mansour, from Doonside, was the first person arrested and charged over the public-disorder incident, although police said they were looking for as many as 50 people over their roles in the riot.
The 19-year-old appeared at Blacktown Local Court on Thursday supported by his mother, father and sister.
Mansour allegedly filmed himself kicking two police cars during the riot before uploading the footage to Instagram.
Speaking to reporters outside Blacktown police station on Thursday, he said he had "just done one (police car)".
When asked to explain his actions, Mansour said he was "pissed off" at officers who had hurt people outside the church.
"I saw there - a guy - his hand was all bleeding from the cops," he said.
During the earlier bail hearing, Magistrate Aaron Tang said police and paramedics were just trying to do their job but were caught in a volatile situation.
"There is no place for vigilante justice in our society," he said.
"Whilst the court acknowledges the traumatic impact of the stabbing of the bishop on the church community, those involved in the alleged riot acted in a reprehensible way."
Mansour was granted strict conditional bail on charges of rioting, affray and destroying or damaging property during a public-disorder incident.
The rioting charge carries a maximum jail term of 15 years.
While Mansour was yet to make a plea, Mr Tang noted there was a prospect the 19-year-old could serve time behind bars if he was guilty.
As the sole breadwinner of his family, Mansour will be under house arrest and only allowed outside to go to work as a barber or when in the company of his mother, father or sister.
The 19-year-old will only be allowed to use one mobile phone and is banned from social media.
He will next come before Blacktown Local Court on May 2 and the case will be referred to the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions.
A 16-year-old has been arrested over the bishop's stabbing, but he is yet to be charged and remains under police guard in hospital.
The attack was declared an act of terrorism by police early on Tuesday morning due to the teen's alleged religious motivation for carrying out the stabbing.
