A Victorian teenager who allegedly tried to hijack a plane has failed in a bid to keep his case in the Children’s Court, where the maximum penalty is four years in jail.
The 19-year-old now faces the prospect of a jury trial in an adult court and a longer stint in custody, over the incident at Avalon Airport in early 2025.
On Friday, a magistrate said the seriousness of the case and sentencing options available to the Children’s Court made it an “unsuitable” venue to decide the matter.
“The [alleged] offending occurred in a high-risk aviation environment and exposed a substantial number of persons to catastrophic harms,” he said.
Aged 17 at the time, the youth is alleged to have cut through the airport fence and boarded the Jetstar flight armed with a shotgun, knives and a fake bomb. He tried to gain access to the cockpit but was restrained by passengers and crew.
The incident occurred at Avalon Airport, south-west of Melbourne, in March last year. (ABC News: James Oaten)
There were 173 passengers and six crew on board the flight, which was destined for Sydney.
Prosecutors alleged the teenager was “clearly committed” to a political motivation — which remains the subject of a suppression order — and said he previously researched airports and military plane shootings.
The teenager faces charges of attempted hijacking, prejudicing the safe operation of an aircraft, attempting to take control of an aircraft, and weapons offences.
Commonwealth prosecutors argued the maximum sentence available to the Children’s Court was a four-year jail term, a penalty it called “manifestly inadequate”.
The prosecution pointed to other attempted hijacking cases involving adults, where one offender was jailed for eight years and another was found not guilty because of mental impairment, but was ordered to serve 13 years in detention.
The then-17-year-old is alleged to have cut through the airport fence and boarded the Jetstar flight. (ABC News: Natasha Schapova)
In this case, the teenager intends to use a mental impairment defence and plead not guilty, the court heard.
His legal team have argued he was under “tremendous mental strain” at the time of the incident.
On Friday, the magistrate said the teenager admitted to exaggerating symptoms to mislead police, but told psychiatrists he had been hearing voices.
The teenager had “longstanding vulnerabilities” although a formal diagnosis of autism had not been reached, the court heard.
The case will return before a magistrate, who will eventually decide whether the accused should be committed to stand trial.
If he is found not guilty by way of mental impairment, a court could still order his detention for an extended period if the risks to the community are deemed too serious.
The teenager has been in custody since March 2025.
