Sydney church stabbing: 16-year-old charged for allegedly ‘committing a terrorist act’

A 16-year-old Australian teenager has been charged with “committing a terrorist act” after he allegedly stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at a church earlier this week. The police said that the bishop who was stabbed at least six times is in stable condition in the hospital. 

About the hearing

The teenager was charged in the Parramatta children’s court on Friday (Apr 19) morning after he attended a hospital bedside hearing while recovering from the surgery. The alleged perpetrator’s finger was severed during the attack on Monday (Apr 15) night. 

The police on Thursday (Apr 18) night announced that the teenager had been charged and he had been refused bail. The offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.  

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After the attack, a mob of thousands descended on the church and clashed with police demanding that the boy face justice. 

The attack, which left several people injured, took place in Sydney’s south-west during a live-streamed service at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley. 

The bishop is said to have sustained lacerations to his head while 39-year-old Father Isaac Royel received cuts and a shoulder injury after he attempted to intervene. 

The police had searched the teenager’s electronic devices at his home and interviewed him at the hospital before charging him. 

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Defence lawyer Greg Scragg told the court that they are engaging a forensic psychologist to visit the alleged attacker in hospital and “assess him for treatment and in relation to his fitness,” adding that the teenager has a “long history of behaviour consistent with suffering from a mental illness and or mental condition and or mental disorder,” reported state broadcaster ABC News. 

One arrested for 'rioting'

On Friday, thousands of Muslims across Sydney went for regular prayers amid fears of retaliatory attacks. The footage of the incident shows the boy being restrained by the congregation and shouting at Emmanuel for insulting Islam.

The attack on Monday night sparked protests and hours later, one of the largest mosques in Australia, Lakemba mosque, also received fire bomb threats.

On Thursday, the police said that Dani Mansour, 19, was charged with rioting, affray and destroying or damaging property. He was the first person to be charged after the unrest. 

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Emmanuel, on Thursday, pleaded for peace and said that he had forgiven his attacker in an almost four-minute audio message recorded in the hospital. He also reassured his followers that his condition was improving.

The teenager was arrested at the scene after the attack but had to be kept in the church for his own safety after a large and angry crowd of the bishop’s followers demanded that the boy be handed over to them.

The police and the crowd reportedly clashed for more than three hours. The riots left over 50 police officers injured and around 20 police cars were damaged.

(With inputs from agencies)