Minto terror attack: Suspect Ihsas Khan’s sister begged him to move in with her
EXCLUSIVE: THE sister of terror-accused Ihsas Khan begged him to move in with her a week before he allegedly ambushed a grandfather in an attack.
NSW
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THE sister of terror-accused Ihsas Khan begged him to move in with her a week before he allegedly ambushed a grandfather in a frenzied attack, amid concern over his deteriorating mental state.
The married sibling of the 22-year-old pharmacy university dropout was said to be “deeply worried” for her younger brother who became increasingly withdrawn after the death of their mother nine months ago.
Khan had begun behaving erratically, friends say, after his parents divorced several years ago and his father left the family home in Minto to move to Melbourne.
But in the weeks before he launched his knife-wielding attack on 59-year-old Wayne Greenhalgh in Minto, lashing out with a machete, his sister pleaded with him to live with her and her husband Sahim in Auburn.
Friend of the family Abdul Baku told the Daily Telegraph: “Everyone was worried for him as he was talking to himself a lot and I saw him outside the mosque walking up and down the street and muttering last week.
“I told his brother-in-law he was not in a good state and he said his sister had been pleading with him to move in with them last week.
“Ihsas was always a bit of a loner but this was different, he was really depressed and wasn’t being coherent.
“His sister felt it was not safe for him to be living by himself and was deeply worried for him.”
Footage that emerged of the alleged unprovoked attack saw carpenter Wayne try to defend himself on Saturday as Khan launched his attack.
He suffered near-fatal wounds to his hands and body and had to run for his life into a neighbour’s home before Khan tried to smash his way in through a glass door while allegedly shouting “Allah Akbar” and “somebody’s going to die today”.
Neighbours ran to his aid and attempted to bat off Khan with a plank and by punching him to the ground as he chased Wayne into the garage hair salon yards from his home.
Khan fell into a spiral of depression after the death of his mother prompting worried religious leaders to reach out to him in the months leading up to the attack.
He refused to integrate with the Muslim community choosing instead to live “an isolated life.”
Zzanan Syed, who attends nearby Suburban Islamic Centre, where Khan prayed three times a day, said: “He was so depressed, he lived a very isolated life.
“No one could help him and we really tried but he refused our help.
“He was cut up when his parents divorced several years ago but he was so close to his mother that I think her death may have tipped him over the edge.
“The Muslim community is very close and when people are down or sick we all come together but he refused anyone’s help.”
Religious leaders say in the last week the loner started praying at Auburn Gallipoli Mosque, 26kms away from his home where his sister lived.
Neighbour George Torres said Khan would walk up and down their street and would often sit perched on a wooden sign marked Passfield Park chanting to himself.
“He would sit on the sign rocking backwards and forwards reading the Koran and chanting.
“You could tell he was not himself, his eyes were glassy and he seemed like he was somewhere else in his head.”
Khan attended Hurlstone Agricultural High School where staff recall a solitary figure who kept himself to himself.
One member of staff said: “He was always talking to himself and never mixed with anyone.”
Khan has been charged with committing an alleged Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack and attempted murder and is due to appear in court on Tuesday.
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