A would-be terrorist with links to Wollongong will be under supervision for the next three years, following a NSW Supreme Court ruling.
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The federal Attorney General's Office sought to place Blake Nicholas Pender under an extended supervision order while he remained in custody over a breach of an earlier order.
In June 2017, Pender was seen by police officers in Surry Hills intoxicated and mumbling to himself.
When they approached him, Pender became aggressive and pulled a knife from his jumper sleeve.
During the ensuing struggle, Pender said he would "f..king stab every one of you dogs in the throat".
While in custody he also told police "when I get out I am go [sic] into the city and make myself a martyr and kill as many people as I can".
At a bail court hearing, the following day Pender threatened to kill magistrate Joanne Keogh.
"I'll cut your f..king head off you dog," he said. "I told you I'll f..king kill everyone in that court room."
That was classed as a "terrorist act" and Pender pleaded guilty in November 2019.
Pender has claimed he was a follower of Islam and discovered it while in a Wollongong youth refuge when he was 16.
While in Wollongong, he was charged over assaulting police officers several times, as well as stalking and intimidation and malicious damage offences.
Pender was sentenced to four years for threatening the magistrate but was released in October 2022, after the Supreme Court issued an interim supervision order.
Shortly thereafter, he was arrested for allegedly breaching the order by accessing social media and deleting data from his phone.
The attorney general called for an extended supervision order - which had only been allowed since December 2021 due to a change in legislation.
It was the first time such an order had been requested in NSW and only the second time in Australia.
Expert testimony before the court stated Pender suffered from mental illness and substance abuse.
Also, "his preoccupation with religion, his susceptibility to the influence of indoctrination, his poor impulse control and his pervasive emotional instability" put him at risk of committing further offences.
Pender himself agreed with the extended supervision order, saying it was a "scumbag act that I did" and added that "I can't expect to be let out without supervision, I've got to do it and I deserve it".
Justice Natalie Adams agreed, placing Pender under an extended supervision order for three years, ending on December 20, 2025, under a wide range of conditions sought by the attorney-general.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.
