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Terror raid: suspects denied bail

A Sydney man who allegedly breached a terrorism-related control order has been refused bail in court.

The 21-year-old, who can’t be named for legal reasons, was arrested on Tuesday by police for the alleged breach of the order as part of continuing investigations into the alleged planning of a terrorist attack on Australian soil.

After a brief hearing at Parramatta Local Court on Wednesday, magistrate Ian McRae refused to grant bail to the man after an application was made by his lawyer, Arjun Chhabra.

• PM warns of ā€˜terrorist chatter’ post siege

In refusing bail, Mr McRae said there was an ā€œunacceptable riskā€ to the community that further offences could be committed.

ā€œThere has been non-compliance on two occasions by the accused,ā€ he told the court.

ā€œBail is to be refused.ā€

The court heard the ā€œinterim control orderā€ was granted by the federal court on December 17 and served on the man the following day.

A lawyer for the commonwealth told the court one of the conditions of the order was that ā€œhe is prohibited to access specified forms of telecommunicationsā€.

She said the man had breached the order by making a phone call from a public pay phone and also from a mobile phone he was not approved to use.

She called it a ā€œdeliberate … defiance of the conditions of the control orderā€, noting that the breach carried a maximum penalty of five years in jail.

She said the ā€œcourt must not grant the bail unless the court is satisfied exceptional circumstances exist to justify bail.

ā€œThere are no exceptional circumstances to justify bail.

ā€œThe court could have no confidence in the defendant’s behaviour while at liberty,ā€ the crown lawyer said.

Arguing for bail, Mr Chhabra described the breaches as ā€œincredibly technicalā€.

ā€œThere is no suggestion that anything nefarious was discussed,ā€ he told the court.

He said in one of the calls, his client discussed exercise ā€œand nothing moreā€, and that the unauthorised mobile number used belonged to the accused’s mother.

ā€œThere is no suggestion the phone calls … were made to evade the authorities,ā€ he said. ā€œIt’s not open to the authorities to make a finding of evasion.ā€

But Mr McRae rejected the argument, noting there was ā€œgreat disquietā€ in the community on matters related to terrorism.

The matter was adjourned to Sydney Central Local Court on February 25.

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