Accused teen hijacker first Victorian child sent to higher court on terror charge

A teen accused of attempting to hijack a plane may become the first child in Victoria to face trial accused of planning a terrorism plot after his matter was deemed serious enough to be heard by a higher court.

The boy was aged 17 when he allegedly carried weapons, including a shotgun, knives and a fake bomb, onto a Jetstar flight bound for Sydney in March 2025.

As the aircraft was in its final stages of boarding at Melbourne’s Avalon Airport, with 173 passengers onboard and six crew members, he walked up the plane’s front stairs, a children’s court was told on Friday.

The teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, allegedly told crew he had a bomb and demanded access to the cockpit before it’s claimed he began to assemble a shotgun.

The teen was restrained by a passenger and the captain before he could get any further.

He allegedly told them he intended to “scare people” and he had planned the conduct for months, a magistrate said.

He is charged with firearm and weapon offences, assaulting crew, attempted hijacking and prejudicing safe operation of an aircraft with intent to kill.

His defence has disputed the alleged offending, including claims he had been planning it since October 2024 and attributed that to his interest in aviation.

Defence lawyers argued his case should remain in the children’s court as sentencing there would be adequate because of his mental health conditions, youth and lack of priors.

However, the prosecution argued the penalties available in children’s court - typically supervision orders - were inadequate to reflect the seriousness of the alleged offending.

Prosecutors claimed exceptional circumstances existed which warranted the matter to be uplifted to the County or Supreme Court, which a magistrate agreed with on Friday.

This included that his alleged offending took place in a high-risk aviation setting, exposing passengers and crew to “catastrophic harm”, and had been politically motivated.

The magistrate said among the teen’s alleged internet search history were “what airports do AFP patrol”, “aircraft crew jobs” and Avalon Airshow dates.

He said the allegations suggested premeditation in a high-risk aviation setting that had the potential to cause “catastrophic harm”.

The maximum sentence a magistrate in a children’s court can impose is four years in youth detention, which the prosecution had argued was “manifestly inadequate”.

The charges carry maximum penalties of 10 years imprisonment in the higher courts.

“The alleged offending is of an exceptionally grave character on the material,” the magistrate tol