Bondi terror accused Naveed Akram faces 59 charges
Accused terrorist Naveed Akram has been charged with murder among 59 offences over the deadly Bondi Beach attack.
Akram, 24, did not appear or apply for bail during a brief court hearing on Wednesday afternoon.
He is charged with 15 counts of murder – one for each of the victims – and one count of committing a terrorist act.
Akram is also charged with 40 counts of wounding with intent to murder and single counts of discharging a firearm in public, causing a public display of a prohibited terrorist symbol and placing an explosive in or near a building with intent to cause harm.
The court matter was adjourned until April 8.
Akram and his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, are accused of using long-arm guns to fire at a crowd of people celebrating the Jewish festival of lights at Australia’s most famous beach on Sunday night.
Australian-born Naveed Akram was shot by responding police and spent days in a coma before being charged.
His father, a licensed gun owner who arrived in Australia on a student visa in 1998, died at the scene.
Among the 15 Bondi victims were a 10-year-old girl, an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, a retired police officer and a father who ran at the gunmen, hurling a brick.
Some are still being formally identified, police said.
Authorities have previously confirmed Naveed came to the attention of ASIO in 2019 over his associations with others.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon on Tuesday said officers found two home-made Islamic State flags in a car, registered to Naveed, where they also defused two improvised explosive devices.
He confirmed the father-and-son duo had travelled to the Philippines before the attack but noted the reasons for the trip were still being investigated.
“Police will allege in court the man engaged in conduct that caused death, serious injury and endangered life to advance a religious cause and cause fear in the community,” NSW Police said in a statement confirming Naveed Akram’s charges.
Forty-one people, including four children, were taken to hospital with injuries sustained in the incident.
Twenty people remain in hospital, including one in a critical condition. Three others are critical but stable, including Constable Scott Dyson who underwent surgery on Wednesday after being wounded in the attack.
Probationary Constable Jack Hibbert lost vision in one eye after being shot in the head and will require additional surgeries and treatment.
The victims of the shooting were celebrating the Jewish festival of lights at Australia’s most famous beach on Sunday night.
They ranged in age from 10 to 87.
Twenty people remain in hospital with injuries sustained in the incident.
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By: Luke Costin, Kat Wong and Farid Farid/AAP
