Australia Teen Pleads Guilty To Terror Charge

A Melbourne teenager alleged to have bomb-making materials pleaded guilty on Monday to preparing for a terror act, reports said.

The 17-year-old told the Children’s Court he was “guilty” of one charge of engaging in an act in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said.

Two other less serious charges against the teen, who cannot be identified, were dropped and he did not apply for bail.

Earlier this year, court documents revealed that police had seized a computer from the boy’s home when he was arrested in May.

The computer contained encrypted documents entitled “Pressure Cooker Backpack Bomb with Switch Detonator” and “Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom”, the ABC said.

The national broadcaster said other items seized during the raid included a pressure cooker and lengths of steel pipes fitted with caps.

The teenager is due to face a directions hearing in a county court on Thursday.

In recent months, Australia’s government has shown increasing concern over home-grown extremism, raising the country’s terror alert level to high last year.

Last week five people, including a 15-year-old boy, were charged in Sydney over a terror plot targeting a government building.

And in October, a civilian police employee was shot in the head by another 15-year-old boy outside police headquarters in western Sydney. That teenager was killed in an exchange of gunfire with officers.