Convicted terrorist Shayden Thorne free to travel to Melbourne to see son
He might have botched his harebrained plot to sail to the Philippines in a tinnie and overthrow the government, but his plans to travel to Melbourne have been more successful.
Police & Courts
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A convicted terrorist released from jail under strict conditions has had them eased to allow him to fly to Melbourne to visit his son.
Shayden Jamil Thorne was freed in March after spending less than four years in a Victorian jail over a bumbling jihad plot to sail to the Philippines to join Islamic militants and overthrow the government in 2016.
Thorne was jailed for three years and 10 months after pleading guilty to a foreign incursion offence.
He and five other men planned to tow a 7m boat purchased in Bendigo to Far North Queensland where they would launch it and then set sail to South East Asia.
In sentencing, Supreme Court Justice Michael Croucher said the “poorly planned venture was foredoomed to failure” as it was an “ill-suited vessel” which would never have made it “past the breakers off far north of Queensland”.
Thorne has been living in Western Australia under a court-issued strict interim control order.
The order prohibited him from travel outside of Perth, going within 1km of an international point of departure, accessing the internet or using social media and contacting his co-conspirators.
Thorne, 32, also had to abide by a curfew between midnight and 6am.
But the Federal Court this week amended the order, allowing Thorne to now have the freedom to:
FLY to Melbourne to visit his son for two-week periods, giving 21 days notice to the Australian Federal Police of his travel dates, flight details and address while in Victoria;
STAY out later at night, with the curfew changed to 1am to 5am;
ONLY report to police once a week, instead of twice-weekly; and
ACCESS the online Zoom platform to allow him complete university studies.
A restriction prohibiting him from going near Perth International Airport was amended to allow him to visit nearby shops, DFO Perth and Costco Wholesale.
Other conditions that remain include that he must only use the one mobile phone, not talk to anyone in Turkey, Iraq, Syria or the Philippines.
Thorne must not possess firearms or other weapons, a quantity of petrol exceeding 4 litres or any documents relating to explosives, bombings, beheadings or Islamic State.
He also has to seek permission from the AFP before accepting any paid work.
The new confirmed order will be in place until March next year.
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