‘Science nerd’ Emmanuel Lidden facing jail for plutonium in the post

A man described in court as a “science nerd” is facing jail after having nuclear material posted to his parents’ home.

Prosecuting lawyers are pushing for a “science nerd” to receive a custodial sentence for importing plutonium and uranium -- in amounts so small they were safe to eat -- to his parents’ Sydney home via the post.

Fast food worker Emmanuel Steven Lidden faced the Sydney District Court on Friday where he is at the forefront of legal history as the first Australian to be sentenced for possessing and moving nuclear material into the country.

Lidden pleaded guilty to the two charges after he bought tiny samples of plutonium, yellow cake, uranium and other material -- which were sealed in decorative polymer cubes -- from a US science collectables website.

He then had them delivered to his parents’ Southern Sydney home.

The 24-year-old was at the centre of a major nuclear response in 2023 over the samples, which he kept on his bedhead next to his stamp, coin and banknote collections.

Emmanuel Lidden, arriving at The Sydney District Court. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Emergency crews in hazmat suits closed his street and evacuated the homes of his family and neighbours.

The samples were later found to be harmless.

On Friday, prosecuting lawyers asked Judge Leonie Flannery to hand Lidden either a jail sentence, suspended sentence or intensive corrections order to deter future offenders.

Lidden’s home was the centre of a major nuclear response. Picture: OnScene

Lidden’s lawyer John Sutton argued for his client not to be jailed and said he was “a young fellow who is exceedingly naive”.

“This is effectively a science nerd who took to collecting elements from a periodic table…,” Mr Sutton told the court.

Mr Sutton said Lidden began the collecting to counter the psychological impacts from sustaining a physical injury.

“This is not someone who was going out looking for dangerous substances,” Mr Sutton said. “This is someone, who…sought… self soothing through collections.”

Solicitor John Sutton says his client does not deserve a criminal conviction. Pic: Peter Rae

The lawyer told the court the shutdown of Lidden’s street was a “massive over-reaction” and amounted to “a circus” where authorities rushed in “all guns blazing” in response to “trivial” offending.

“All the toys in the cabinet are produced,” Mr Sutton told the court. “Perhaps there was some excitement..that they had a matter involving nuclear material.”

He also told the court samples were so small that they were safe to eat.

“It is accepted and an agreed fact that if someone ingested all of the elements at the same time, no harm would be caused,” Mr Sutton said.

“The offending in this case fits the definition of trivial like a hand in a glove,” he said.

One of the plutonium samples that was later found to be harmless

Prosecuting barrister David Jordan rejected the over-reaction claim and asked for a harsh sentence as a strong deterrent.

“Offending conduct such as this creates a market for this material where it otherwise would not exist,” he told the court.

“Australia is part of a global community,” he said. “It is important that Australia demonstrates through legislative and consequential actions its commitments to those agreements.”

Mr Jordan told the court authorities did not know Lidden’s collection was harmless before the raid.

Lidden purchased the nuclear collectables from Luciteria Science, a legal US-based website that says: “Collecting elements is a fun way to learn about chemistry”.

Prosecuting lawyers denied the nuclear response was an over-reaction. Picture: OnScene

He made 10 orders from May 2022, which were all delivered, and used his own name, phone number and parents’ address.

Australian Border Force red flagged an 11th delivery in June 2023 but left it up to DHL’s courier drivers to retrieve a delivery of thorium and mercury from Lidden’s home, the court was told.

In mid August, investigators emailed Lidden with a request to interview him over the delivery and he asked if he should bring a lawyer.

Authorities raided his home the following day.

Judge Flanery will sentence Lidden on April 11.