By Yavin Kumar @ Sydney Criminal Defence Lawyers

Last week, a young Sydney man who supplied the dangerous weapon that was used to carry out the random homicide of Police Accountant Curtis Cheng was sentenced to a term of 44 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 33 years.

20 year old Raban Alou pleaded guilty to aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring Farhad Jabar, 15, to commit a terrorist attack at New South Wales Police Headquarters, which led to the fatal execution of Police Accountant Curtis Cheng in October 2015. Alou was found to have supplied Jabar with a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver that was used to shoot Cheng outside of Police Headquarters, which led to Cheng being killed instantly, and Jabar being later killed during an exchange of gunfire with police.

The offender proclaimed that “this is only the beginning” and gave an Islamic State salute as he was led away from the Court.

During Alou’s Sentencing proceedings, Justice Peter Johnson stated that “the offender was not acting merely as a firearm dealer”, but instead, that he had carefully planned out an attack of terror, which was carried out by the gunman, who had also been radicalised by the Islamic State. His Honour also noted that the 20-year-old’s behaviour confirmed his lack of remorse, and that any prospects for rehabilitation were “almost hopeless”. The offender’s lack of remorse was also shown through a prison call in which he has stated words to the effect of “I’m never going to say sorry for what I did”.

This matter has been labelled as the first time an offence of committing a terrorist act had come before a sentencing Court in Australia, and has greatly outlined the Australian community’s firm attitudes against terrorist-related acts. During the proceedings, Justice Johnson also added that whilst there have been cases that have been heard before the Courts in Australia with respect to conspiracy, planning and possessing documents that are linked to acts of terror, there had not been a case that involved the death of a person.

New South Wales Police has also commented on the outcome of this matter, stating that the State is continuing to work towards stopping other people like Alou. Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing commented that “the threat remains at probable and we continue to work with our partners both interstate, nationally and internationally to deal with the threat”. Similarly, Curtis Cheng’s son, Alpha Cheng, sent a clear deterring factor for anyone who contemplates committing acts of terror in the community, expressing on behalf of his family that “we really hope [this matter] sets a really strong precedent that actions like this of hate and intolerance is clearly not respected or condoned”.

Raban Alou will be eligible for parole in 2048.

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