A Victorian children’s court granted permanent stay of the case, and Magistrate Lesley Fleming made damning findings against police.
In the decision, Fleming found law enforcement used “the guise of a rehabilitation service to entice the parents of a troubled child to engage in a process that resulted in potential harm to the child.”
“The community would not expect law enforcement officers to encourage a 13-14 year old child towards racial hatred, distrust of police and violent extremism, encouraging the child’s fixation on ISIS,” Fleming said.
Fleming also found police had purposefully delayed charging Thomas until he turned 14, which would make it more difficult to use the doli incapax defence, which states children under a certain age cannot be held criminal responsible for their actions.
The AFP officer responsible for signing off on the operation, Deputy Commissioner McCartney, told Senate estimates he would do it again.
McCartney defended the operation on the grounds that the de-escalation techniques employed by Victoria Police’s Countering Violent Extremism team weren’t “being effective”.