Appeal rejected for extremists who planned attack on army base

Wissam Mahmoud Fattal after being sentenced for terrorism. Inset: Saney Awys and Nayev El Sayed. Min Picture: Araon Francis Source: Herald Sun

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THREE Islamic extremists who planned to massacre Australian soldiers in a terrorist attack on a Sydney army base have lost their bid to overturn their convictions and 18-year jail terms.

Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, 37, Saney Edow Aweys, 30, and Nayef El Sayed, 29, today had their appeal rejected in the Victorian Court of Appeal.

The trio planned to shoot as many soldiers as possible at Holsworthy Army Base to advance the cause of Islam, which they believed was under attack from the West.

They were jailed in 2011 for 18 years with a non-parole period of 13-and-a-half years.

The men were found to be planning the attack between February and August 2009.

The Crown had counter appealed against the leniency of the sentences but that was also dismissed.

Each of the men's failed appeals relied on claims that sentencing judge Justice Betty King erred in her directions to the jury, and that a build-up of errors caused a miscarriage of justice.

Justices Geoffrey Nettle, Peter Buchanan and Pamela Tate unanimously rejected the grounds of appeal.

The Director of Public Prosecutions also criticised Justice King's sentence as inadequate for a plot which it said could have had devastating consequences.

“Her Honour arrived at an inadequate sentence by focusing on the steps taken and giving insufficient weight to the nature of the plan which could have had devastating consequences, involving as it did a planned attack on a selected target with the intention of killing as many soldiers and others found there as possible,” the DPP submitted.

The DPP argued the offending fell into the worst class and the men should have been punished with life in jail.

But the justices said the trio could not be sentenced as if the terror plot had actually been carried out.

They also noted that extremists prepared to commit attacks which involve suicide as a form of martyrdom were unlikely be deterred by harsh prison sentences.

“In our view the sentences imposed were severe but quite properly so,” the justices said.

“We consider that the maximum penalty ought to be reserved for the worst class of case.

“The offending here, regrettably, was not of the worst class.”

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