Man from Adelaide’s southern suburbs on blackmail charges allegedly threatened Glenunga students, Jews, Gather Round, Fringe

A “master hacker” allegedly threatened to boil Adelaide high school students in oil, contaminate food items and threatened the Gather Round, a court has heard.

A skilled hacker with a “mastery of computers” escalated from threatening to attack, bomb and boil students of Glenunga International High School in oil to threatening Jews, the Gather Round and contaminating supermarket items with a poisonous chemical, a court has heard.

On Thursday, the Adelaide Magistrates Court suppressed the identity of a man arrested by SA Police late on Wednesday for charges of blackmail and threatening to contaminate items.

However, on application by The Advertiser, it refused to suppress the details of the man’s alleged offending, which spans November 2024 through to March this year.

In lengthy submissions, the court was told the man had allegedly:

Extra security was placed around Glenunga International High School in April. Picture: RoyVPhotography

DECLARED himself a prophet and a hero, telling the school it could choose between violent and non-violent futures;

REPEATEDLY contacted an Advertiser journalist and made the same threats toward the school, which were immediately passed on to police;

HACKED the school’s data systems and stored information there while questioning its ability to keep students safe;

WARNED he would attack the school with a car and boil a female student in oil;

EXPANDED his threats to target members of the Jewish community, Gather Round fixtures and Fringe festival events;

THREATENED to inject lead acetate into yoghurt, brownies and jellies;

CLAIMED he had been conducting “experiments on people” to determine whether the substance could be tasted once injected into foods;

FURTHER claimed he had practised how to sever a human’s brain stem and cut their thighs;

DEMANDED $23 million in “Bitcoin and cash” in order to bring about the nonviolent future;

BEEN arrested after unknowingly engaging with an undercover police officer online.

The man has yet to plead to two counts of blackmail and one count of making it appear goods had been, or were about to be, contaminated.

St Kilda players run on to Norwood Oval during the Gather Round AFL match against the GWS Giants at Norwood Oval in April. Picture: Maya Thompson/AFL Photos/Getty

Court documents allege he sought to have the school “submit to a demand, namely systemic changes”.

They further allege he sought to have the undercover agent “submit to a demand, namely 153.71744299 Bitcoin and money in the amount of $2,599,500”.

Finally, they allege he “caused public alarm or anxiety” by making it appear “yoghurt, brownies, juice jelly, hot cross buns and apples had, or were about to be”, contaminated with lead acetate.

On Thursday his counsel applied for bail, saying their client had no prior criminal history, strong ties to the state and a supportive family willing to serve as guarantors.

A police prosecutor opposed bail “in all forms”, saying the man posed too great a risk to the community.

“Between 19 November 2024 and 4 February 2025, Glenunga International High School received a series of 13 emails from (the man),” she said.

“Their content was threatening, causing fear within the school community and prompting the school to make extra security measures for a time.

“The man called himself ‘the prophet of justice’, a ‘hero to cleanse and renew the corrupt institution known publicly as Glenunga International High School’.

“He stated there were ‘two futures’ that could happen, a ‘physical attack violent future’ and a ‘future without a physical attack, a non-violent future’

“In order to create a future free from physical attack, the school had to communicate with the sender through email.”

She said the man talked about his “aura” – a reference to the popular shooting video game, Valorant – and said he would “attack with bombs and knives”.

“He said he had practised the severing of brain stems in animals, knew how to cut human thighs (and) could use a big car (for the attack),” she said.

“He intimated he wanted to pour boiling oil on a female student at a bus stop, that tilt-catch bombs had been designed so that ‘when someone opens it, they will lose their hand’.”

The prosecutor said the man then began emailing other places, including The Advertiser, before saying an attack “was planned for SA and its Jews”, Gather Round and the Fringe.

On February 14, she said, a covert police officer began engaging with the man – who in turn demanded $23 million “in a mixture of Bitcoin and cash” to halt his threats.

“He said he had been experimenting with triacetone triperoxide – which is a homemade explosive – wires and steel balls,” she said.

“He said he had lead acetate and was conducting experiments on people to determine if they could taste it, and had devised a method to inject it into yoghurt, brownies and jellies.

“He (demanded payment) by May 13 or there ‘would no longer be a non-violent future’.”

She said the man had a high level of “cyber skills”, was “technically proficient” and had a “mastery of computer systems”, having previously hacked the school to store information.

Though his devices had been seized upon arrest, she said, he could use any computer to access data in the cloud if released and interfere with the still-ongoing investigation.

“These threats were seriously harmful toward the community, particularly the school community and its students.”

She asked he be refused bail and remanded in custody until December to allow police the time needed to complete their “extensive” search of his home and devices.

Police also, she said, wanted to ascertain whether the man was working alone or if other people were involved in the alleged offending.

The man, who appeared via video link from custody, looked down and shook his head as the court refused bail and remanded him in custody until December.

Members of his family, who were in court, were visibly distressed by the ruling and left court in tears.

Originally published as Man from Adelaide’s southern suburbs on blackmail charges allegedly threatened Glenunga students, Jews, Gather Round, Fringe