The case of a radicalised Melbourne teenager who allegedly got bomb-making instructions off the internet and prepared to make explosives is "run of the mill".
At least that's what lawyers for the 17-year-old boy told the Supreme Court of Victoria on Tuesday.
The teenager is charged with planning to commit a terrorist act, possessing items connected with a terrorist act and failing to provide a password after a police raid on his Melbourne home.
His legal team is appealing a decision to upgrade his case to the Supreme Court, arguing it should remain in the Children's Court because exceptional circumstances have not been proven.
A barrister acting for the prosecution said the teenager's alleged behaviour and his age, which is at the higher end of the Children's Court jurisdiction, meant the case should be escalated.
"The ingredients were there. The (bomb) recipe was there. The planning was there," he told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
But the boy's barrister said the only planning involved were some preparatory steps to make an explosive device.
The boy did not actually make any bombs and there was no target, the court heard.
"The evidence demonstrates nothing more than a run-of-the-mill terrorism case," the boy's barrister said.
"What we've got is a completely self-radicalised young man who can be salvaged."
Radicalisation was "garden variety" in most terrorism cases, so that factor could not be used to prove exceptional circumstance, he said.
The decision to uplift the case was also premature because it happened before any plea was indicated and did not consider rehabilitation, the barrister said.
Prosecutors in June successfully argued the case went beyond the Children's Court, which can only impose a maximum three-year sentence.
It meant the teen would face the Supreme Court if committed to trial, where the maximum penalty is life in prison.
The judge is expected to take about a week to decide where the case will go.
The teenage boy appeared via video link in court, where he had supporters.
Share
