Two NSW south coast brothers accused of idolising the Christchurch massacre shooter were “idiots” and “trolls” however were not planning a copycat terrorist attack, their lawyers have told a court.
Joshua Lucas, 23, and his brother Benjamin Lucas, 25, are standing trial in the NSW Supreme Court at Parramatta, where they have pleaded not guilty to terrorism offences. They are accused of planning to carry out an attack in Sydney, Wollongong or southern NSW.
Unemployed man Joshua Lucas, from Sanctuary Point near Jervis Bay, was arrested in March 2020 one day before the one-year anniversary of the Christchurch mosque shooting.
He has been charged with doing acts in preparation for or planning a terrorist act, which carries a maximum possible sentence of life in jail, and advocating for doing a terrorist act.
His barrister told the court that Joshua Lucas admitted to posting a slew of racist and far right-wing material online however argued it amounted to “sh*tposting” and he did not represent a real threat.
His defence does not dispute that he posted violent and extremist sentiment on Telegram and Facebook under the username “Josh Bro”, including a video made by the Christchurch massacre shooter of his murder of innocent worshippers.
The court was told that Joshua Lucas also described himself as a white nationalist and wrote online: “f**k the Jews and “I wish Hitler did kill six million”.
“You might be satisfied that what Josh Bro had to say on Telegram and Facebook and Instagram was distasteful, boring, boorish, sometimes vaguely amusing … but what I’ll be suggesting is it’s not reflective of a terrorist intent,” his barrister Madeleine Avenell said.
“And you’ll be able to interpret Joshua Lucas’ in-real-life conduct in a similar way – jokes, a hobby, a bit of fun.”
The crown has alleged that both brothers “idolised” the Christchurch massacre gunman Brenton Tarrant and they were the in the process of selecting a target before their arrest by the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team.
The crown prosecution argued the brothers had not chosen a target or a means to carry out their attack however had made preparations.
On three occasions Joshua Lucas exploded improvised explosive devicesxjmtzyw at a disused quarry, one of which was done in the company of his brother.
However the defence argued the devices were little more than “sparkler bombs” made with a large bunch of sparklers bound together.
The crown has alleged that Joshua Lucas was in the process of selecting and researching potential targets and had done internet searches of mosques and synagogues in the Wollongong and south coast region as well as Australian Defence Force facilities.
The brothers also drove to Sydney where they took pictures of Sydney Airport and its perimeter fence.
Joshua Lucas searched online for recipes and ingredients used in explosive and flammable compounds, the court was told.
Benjamin Lucas, a Woolworths assistant manager from Batemans Bay, has pleaded not guilty to doing acts in preparation for or planning a terrorist act in conjunction with his brother.
His barrister Slade Howell admitted that his client took part in “juvenile” activity like taking pictures in front of a power substation carrying plastic guns.
However, he had no knowledge of his brother’s online interactions with “crazies”, Mr Howell said.
“He’s not on trial for being distasteful or offensive or for that matter behaving like an idiot … He didn’t do it, he couldn’t do it,” Mr Howell said.
The trial continues
