Teen found not guilty of plotting terror attack on Peter Dutton after court hears of ‘edgy joke’

A teenager accused of plotting nailbomb attacks against the then opposition leader Peter Dutton and a Labour Day march has been found not guilty of preparing a terrorist act. The jury returned its verdict on Thursday after two days of deliberation. The teen, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, stood trial in the supreme court in Brisbane after pleading not guilty to one count of carrying out acts in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act. The family of the teen, now aged 17, gasped and cried when the verdict was read out. The boy was about to turn 16 when he rode his scooter around Brisbane’s suburbs to buy nails, metal pipes and ingredients for explosives in July 2024, the trial heard. The jury was shown dozens of text messages, online posts and hand-written diary entries that detailed the teen’s fixation on infamous terrorists, including the Oklahoma City bomber and the Christchurch mosque shooter. He texted a friend about the fictional terrorist attack at the end of the film Fight Club, in which a series of buildings are blown up, the court heard. “I think I’ve gained an autistic interest in bombs but it’s going to be tough to shake it off,” the teen wrote in his diary, the court heard. He engaged in “clearly dangerous experimentation” with household chemicals, defence barrister Laura Reece told the jury on Monday during her closing statement. …