A Melbourne man convicted over a terror plot to behead a police officer on Anzac Day should receive a longer jail term because there is no evidence he has rejected his radical beliefs, prosecutors argue.
Sevdet Ramadan Besim chose Anzac Day for his planned attack to "make sure the dogs remember this as well as their fallen heroes".
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Sarah McNaughton SC said too much emphasis was given to Besim's youth, immaturity, previous good character and rehabilitation prospects when he was jailed for 10 years with a seven-and-a-half year minimum in 2016.
The discount given for his guilty plea was also too high, Ms McNaughton told the Victorian Court of Appeal on Friday.
The Hallam teenager, who was 19 when sentenced, pleaded guilty to conspiring to do an act in preparation for or planning a terror act, a charge carrying a maximum term of life imprisonment.
He planned to run down and behead a police officer in Melbourne on one of Australia's most sacred holidays.
"This is an outrageous, heinous offence of grave moral culpability," Ms McNaughton said.
The fact it involved a police officer also showed a "defiance of the rule of law in the most profound sense".
Ms McNaughton said Besim's family had no idea he had been radicalised.
"If he could do that in the bosom of his family ... it's of even more concern as he gets older," she said.
There was no evidence he resiled from his beliefs, which were the same at his sentence as at the time of his offending.
The court also heard of a discrepancy between punishment for terrorism crimes in NSW compared with Victoria, where sentencing appeared more lenient.
Defence barrister Peter Morrissey SC said his client was young and impressionable, but was now removed from the "dangerous context" where he was communicating online with people he viewed as charismatic guides.
He accused crown prosecutors of "over extremising".
"The evidence was he was an unformed person," he said.
Besim was less likely to reoffend now compared to when he was arrested, he added.
Mr Morrissey said his sentence was only light when compared with similar NSW cases, but conceded the beheading plot was "particularly frightening".
Justice Mark Weinberg replied: ""Frightening just isn't the word that captures the horror.
"It doesn't come close."
The court reserved judgment.
Share
