Warning: This article discusses extreme violence
A Pukekohe man found in possession of extremist Islamic State content, including beheadings and terror attacks in Europe, has failed in his bid to secure a discharge without conviction.
However, his application for permanent anonymity was granted.
Disturbing content accrued by the 24-year-old featured footage of Islamic State (Isis) murdering civilians and encouraging viewers to attack governments, as well as endorsing certain terror attack methods that could be used in Australia.
On Tuesday, Manukau District Court Judge Nick Webby rejected the man’s application to escape conviction. To do so would be “sweeping this part of your life under a rug”, he said.
Judge Webby entered the man’s conviction for possessing the “brutal and cruel”, “extremist propaganda publications”.
“The nature of the material, as I said, was of the worst kind.”
The man came to the attention of police after mental health professionals contacted authorities in May 2024 with concerns.
According to an agreed summary of facts obtained by the Herald, a search warrant was executed at his address at 7.40am on June 6 last year. During the search police seized an iPhone 14 Pro Max and an Apple MacBook Pro laptop.
On his devices, police found a 16-minute video that followed the history of the Isis group, then moved into promotion of the organisation.
It featured beheadings and footage of Isis members murdering prisoners and civilians, accompanied by text justifying war crimes.
The summary said the final minute of the video featured a message to former US President Barack Obama, filmed over the severed head of an American citizen.
In another video, Isis fighters are seen planting their flag in the desert and fighting, followed by images of dead “martyrs”, the summary of facts said.
Another clip encouraged people to attack governments in the Middle East.
A different video featured multiple beheadings and extolled Muslims in the West to join Isis and conduct terror attacks.
“It includes videos of Islamic State attacks in Europe,” the summary of facts said.
Other footage encouraged Muslims in Australia to travel to the Philippines to fight for Isis.
“If unable to travel make the homes of the Kufah [a historic city in Iraq] your battleground. He then encourages a number of methods of attack available in Australia,” the document said.
One video proclaimed Isis would destroy “Jews, Pagans, Christians, Buddhists and Hindus”.
The next film called on Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, challenging him to come with his Apache helicopter to Isis so they could kill him.
The defendant’s lawyer, Tim Conder, said his client was a “victim of a campaign of online radicalisation” and he had not shared the material.
“He is the person who has suffered as a consequence of [the material].”
Conder argued the man should be granted a discharge without conviction as the “stain” of a conviction of this kind was “uniquely grave”.
A discharge, he said, would also support his efforts at rehabilitation and reintegration.
Jay Tausi, for the Crown, said while there would be impacts of a conviction, it did not outweigh the seriousness of the offending, the gravity of which he said was “high”.
He said it represented ideological offending that “strikes at public safety”.
The Crown was neutral on the name suppression application.
Judge Webby said the defendant had submitted that he would lose his job if a conviction was entered; that it could impact his next application to get OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) status; and it would affect his mental health.
The court was also told he had never moved past the bullying he suffered in high school.
And it was submitted that a conviction would make it difficult for him to progress with an arranged marriage.
Judge Webby did not believe the consequences of a conviction would be out of proportion to the gravity of the offence.
“There are consequences that will undoubtedly flow from a conviction for this type of offending.”
The charge, knowingly possessing objectionable material, namely terrorism, carries a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment.
Judge Webby issued a sentence starting point of three years’ imprisonment and gave the man discounts for his guilty plea, age, lack of previous convictions, rehabilitation and societal rejection.
This led to a total sentence reduction of 45%, bringing him below the threshold at which judges can consider home-based sentences.
Judge Webby imposed a final sentence of 24 months’ intensive supervision, with electronic monitoring, and 200 hours’ community service.
As well as the videos, police also uncovered 13 copies of the magazine, Dabiq.
The online publication aims to reach Muslims around the world and encourage them to join as recruits to the “Caliphate”.
Another 13 copies of Dabiq’s successor, Rumiyah magazine, were also recovered.
In addition, police said the defendant undertook internet searches that demonstrated he knew what he was accessing was wrong. These included:
Police said the defendant claimed he did not know it was an offence to have the material but knew it was bad to share it.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
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