Queensland Police recruit exposed as brother of ISIS terrorist

IN AN alarming security breach, the brother of an ISIS terrorist was able to join the Queensland Police Service after failing to reveal his family links to the extremist group

IN AN alarming security breach, the brother of an ISIS terrorist was able to join the Queensland Police Service after failing to reveal his family links to the extremist group.

The Sunday Mail can reveal that the police recruit, whose extremist brother fled Australia to join ISIS in Syria in 2014, spent weeks in training before his connections were finally exposed.

He was then booted out of the force by authorities.

The man’s brother is veteran of the bloodthirsty terrorist army in the Middle East, and became a member of its propaganda unit which distributes terror material online.

Police have refused to comment on the case or reveal how the terrorist’s brother passed through rigorous background checks before entering the QPS recruitment phase.

However, The Sunday Mail understands that he did not tell them about his brother, in the original process when joining.

Self-disclosure of “relevant information” is required by applicants during the recruitment process.

When confronted by authorities, including commonwealth agencies, he was given a show cause notice and resigned.

Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart. Picture: Claudia Baxter

For legal reasons The Sunday Mail is prevented from naming the recruit and his radical brother who was a star student before being radicalised.

The terrorists’ family, who live in suburban Brisbane, refused to comment when approached by The Sunday Mail.

“No, sorry, we have no comment on this issue at all,” a family member said. “We ask that you respect the privacy of the family.”

It is not known whether the rogue recruit accessed weapons or police methodologies during his time in training.

“This shows the vetting system works,” a police officer said.

The revelation comes amid heightened terror security over the Christmas period and an announcement by the State Government to bolster police terror teams, with a new Security Counter-Terrorism Command headed by a dedicated Assistant Commissioner to oversee the terrorism portfolio.

During the election campaign, an internal agreement from the Labor Party, sent to the Queensland Police Union, also committed to a new deputy commissioner of Counter-Terrorism and Crime, which is yet to be announced.

The Queensland Police Service did not respond to questions specifically about the recruit, including how long he was at the academy before being found out. However, a spokesman for Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said 25 out of 387 recruits this year had either resigned or had their recruit contracts terminated or suspended.

“The QPS is not at liberty to discuss the nature of each specific case,” a spokesman said.

“The QPS employs a rigorous point-in-time integrity vetting process to determine the suitability of police recruit applicants which includes background checks.

“The process is supported by stringent recruitment provisions that require applicants to disclose wide-ranging relevant information to assess suitability, as defined at Part 5AA of the Police Service Administration Act 1990.

“Failure to disclose relevant information may result in the termination of a recruit’s contract.

“QPS employees are also required to make ongoing disclosures throughout their career.”