New charges laid for Bondi terror attack accused

Scores of devices and thousands of images linked to the surviving Bondi Beach massacre attacker are being examined as he faces new charges.

Naveed Akram was charged with a further 19 offenses in Sydney Downing Center Local Court on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old is accused of opening fire on a crowd celebrating Hanukkah with his father, Sajid Akram, 50, at Bondi Beach on December 14.

In the attack, 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl, died and dozens were injured.

While the elderly Ekrem was shot and killed by the police, his son was taken into custody.

He has been charged with 59 offenses and is being held in Goulburn’s supermax prison.

Current charges included committing an act of terrorism, 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of attempted murder for his alleged role in the massacre.

Prosecutor Danielle New confirmed Wednesday that 19 additional charges had been added to Akram’s charge sheet, including 10 counts of shooting with intent to murder and six counts of discharging a firearm with intent to resist arrest.

Akram’s trial was postponed for nine weeks due to the weight of evidence considered by investigators.

“The Joint Counterterrorism Team is making really steady and good progress in preparing this matter,” Ms. New said.

“The extraordinary evidence… includes 230,000 images from CCTV.

“There are numerous devices belonging to other individuals allegedly associated with the defendant… these need to be translated.”

The lengthy adjournment, two months beyond the usual six-month period for local court cases, was approved by Deputy Chief Justice Michael Antrum.

“I’m sure there is a significant amount of material… the summary needs to be in good form,” Judge Antrum said.

Before the charges return to court, the hearing on June 29 will evaluate the scope of suppression orders protecting the identities of some victims and police officers caught in the brutality.

Ms New gave evidence to the court about the serious psychological harm suffered by people identified in similar cases.

The prosecutor said that the police officers who were there that day or participated in the investigation would feel safer testifying if their names were protected.

Akram has not yet been required to enter a defense to any of the charges against him, nor has he been required to appear via audiovisual link.

The father-son attack was the deadliest mass shooting in Australia since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.

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