Terror suspects’ identities revealed, while father exposed as hardcore criminal
Two brothers shot in a dramatic confrontation with police at a Murray River campground are the sons of a man who took his own life during a massive siege in Adelaide’s CBD in 2014, while two of their brothers have done lengthy jail terms.
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Brothers shot by police while being followed by counter-terror authorities are from a volatile family marred by the death of their father in a siege.
Police-hating Joshua Clavell and younger sibling Joel last night remained in hospital where they were recovering from bullet wounds.
Their father Rodney, who had 11 children, took his own life during a massive siege in the Adelaide CBD in 2014.
He escaped death when shot by police 10 years earlier. Two of Rodney’s other sons, Daniel and Richard, have done lengthy jail terms in South Australia.
Josh, 30, and Joel, 19, were shot in a dramatic confrontation at an isolated Murray River campground on Wednesday.
The Daily Telegraph reported one of the brothers who was shot once told police in Sydney he was only bound by the “law of Allah”.
Court documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph reveal Joshua and another man Nathan Clavell was arrested for stealing two backpacks from an Auburn camping store and threatening to hit a staff member with bamboo sticks on August 29 last year.
The same day they stole the backpacks — each valued at $379.99 — the pair were due to be sentenced in Dubbo Local Court over charges of resist or hinder police.
A statement of facts in the larceny case said: “both persons stated that they had never had any intention of attending the court matter as these are laws of Australia of which they are not bound as they only follow one law and that is the law of Allah”.
The men were denied bail for more than five months, until February 4 this year, when they each pleaded guilty to larceny and stalk/intimidate.
They were released that day after receiving a section 10, no conviction recorded, in Burwood Local Court for each of the charges.
The men had been living in a makeshift campsite in a Lidcombe park off Parramatta Rd when they were arrested for stealing the backpacks, having moved from their previous camp in Dubbo.
They were sentenced in their absence for the charges in Dubbo Local Court.
Senior police yesterday defended the actions of officers, whose vehicle was rammed before the brothers brandished a knife and an axe in a showdown at Barnawartha North.
They had been camping at the Richardsons Bend reserve for up to five weeks, locals said.
The state’s top counter-terror officer, Ross Guenther, said the older brother had been monitored by police for two years.
“Both these persons of interest are what we could call Muslim reverts,” Mr Guenther said.
“He (Joshua) was on a list. We were seeking to understand whether he was a risk to the community.
“I understand the older one has a history of a pretty strong hatred of the police.”
Joshua was shot by police first after he lunged at the officers with a knife.
Joel was shot when he ran at police with a small axe after attempts to subdue him with a Taser and capsicum spray failed.
Police believe Joshua converted to radical Islam a few years ago and went to Bangladesh to marry in recent years.
He was in a NSW jail last year before being released and moving across the border.
“I’m guessing that there was an opportunity for these individuals to be off the grid,” Mr Guenther said.
“Perhaps they felt they were under too much spotlight.”
Mr Guenther praised the officers handling of the incident.
“The efforts of all of those involved is very brave,” he said. “Our people get very affected by the trauma of these things.”
Joshua’s hatred of the police is believed to be at least partly motivated by the death of his father.
Rodney Clavell held four women hostage during the siege, which ended with his death at a brothel.
An inquest last year found Clavell, a former prison officer, took his own life inside Marilyn’s Studio with methamphetamine, cocaine and steroids in his system.
Some members of the family had refused to accept that police were not to blame for Clavell’s death, calling the finding a “load of crap”.
A decade earlier, he survived being shot by police while driving a stolen grader.
He was later a prison riot ringleader, became involved in a police pursuit and was acquitted of allegations he punched a woman in the face with a studded leather glove.
Police said Joshua had influenced two of his brothers in extremist Islamic ideology.
Daniel, was sent to jail in 2014 for steroid-fuelled driving, drug and assault offences.
His lawyers said he began taking steroids as a result of his father’s influence but had changed his life by converting to Islam. Richard is doing time in South Australia for firearms and drug trafficking offences.
A loaded .22 calibre handgun fell from under his shirt when a policeman grabbed him in 2013. Bullets and drugs were found in his bumbag.
Joshua remains in the Albury Base Hospital with serious injuries and is in a stable condition. Joel is under police guard in a serious condition at The Alfred in Melbourne.
Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt said the incident showed the ever-present danger of policing.
“Incidents like this stay with them, whether it be at the forefront of their mind or in the recesses,” he said.
MURRAY’S PEACE BROKEN BY TWO YOUNG VISITORS
A small patch of dead grass and a blackened campfire is all that remains of the site where the Clavell brothers were holed up for more than five weeks, laying low on the Victorian-New South Wales border.
Hidden between trees, away from the river’s edge the pair had gone almost unnoticed for weeks.
Few other than farmer Kevin Richardson have recalled seeing them. The land has been in his family since 1927.
Mr Richardson said they had been set up with a campfire and a “tee-pee” looking tent for weeks.
“I said to them you can stay here for up to six weeks at a time and they asked me if there was anywhere else to camp for free,” Mr Richardson said at the site on Friday.
He said they had a small gas bottle for cooking and would drive a small yellow car to and from the camp to a nearby service station.
Mostly, the pair kept to themselves.
He saw the pair as recently as Wednesday morning, just hours before they would be shot after a violent altercation with police.
“The young bloke didn’t want to talk at all and the other fella said they’ll probably stay until next week, and then he just asked if they are my cattle.
“They would go up to the servo. There’s showers up there. You would see them drive up and head up to the servo.
Detectives were back at the Robertsons Bend Reserve on Friday morning searching for any further clues to explain how Wednesday night’s events unfolded.
Across the border, a single police car remains outside the Albury Base Hospital where the eldest brother is under police guard.
On Thursday, the area was a thoroughfare of emergency service vehicles and neighbours stunned by what had happened less than 24 hours earlier at Barnawartha North.
The two radicalised Clavell brothers tarred the tranquil Richardson’s Bend Reserve with a moment that will be hard for the 500-strong community to forget.
The older brother has been watched by counter-terrorism police for two years — a world away from the red gums and herds of cattle surrounding the farmland where they came to be.
The brothers reportedly drove a small yellow car and were camped near the edge of a river offshoot — hidden behind leafy trees.
Mr Richardson said many people came to use the grounds, but only two were visiting the reserve at the time.
“I saw their yellow vehicle there and it wasn’t until my neighbour rang me and said police came in (that I knew what had happened). And then next she said she was outside and heard yelling and shots.”
That car, dented at the front and on the passenger side, was towed from the scene just after 5pm on Thursday — 24 hours after it had been used to ram a police vehicle.
But it’s not the first time the patch of high country has been the site of drama.
Less than a decade ago two teens drowned at the same spot after their car spun out of control into the river.
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ASSANGE A STEP CLOSER TO EXTRADITION
Locals said it would be sad to see their backyard now remembered for another distressing moment.
Authorities remained at the reserve late into last night, with SES and police leaving no stone unturned.
The grounds stretch along the now-muddy banks of the Murray River, making the Victorian and New South Wales border.
It’s a site once vibrant with campers, but now eerily quiet.
— Alanah Frost