Teen accused of scouting for targets denied bail

A teenager accused of terror offences­ in Sydney has been ­refused bail.

A teenager accused of terror offences­ allegedly scoped out three sites in Sydney for a possible attack.

Tamim Khaja, 18, did not ­appear in Parramatta Local Court yesterday to face one count of planning a terrorism attack and one of preparing for foreign ­incursions.

His lawyer, Osman Samin, did not seek bail and Mr Khaja was ordered to appear at the court via video link at a hearing on June 8.

Outside the court, Mr Samin said “a number of serious allegations have been made but, as with all cases, applicable is the presumption of innocence”.

Mr Khaja, a former Epping Boys High School student, has been accused of scouting military and police targets over a seven-day period leading up to his arrest on Tuesday morning. He was ­arrested in Macquarie Park in Sydney’s northwest in a joint Australian Federal Police/NSW Police operation after he allegedly tried to buy a gun.

He is said to have looked at the Parramatta court complex, Garden Island navy base and the Victoria Barracks.

The Australian revealed last year that Mr Khaja was preaching Islamic State-inspired extrem­ism at Epping Boys High. On Tuesday, AFP Deputy Commissioner Neil Gaughan said the police case would allege Mr Khaja was looking at “various sites in Sydney for a terrorist attack­”.

Seven Network news last night alleged the weapon was a machine gun. In February, he had been stopped while trying to board a flight to Syria.

An associate told The Australian yesterday that Mr Khaja was upset by what he saw as the West’s complicity in military inter­ventions in the Muslim world.