A radicalised teenage boy planned to ram a car into a group of people and stab them in Christchurch.
Crown prosecutor Chris Lange told the Christchurch District Court at sentencing on Thursday that the boy wrote a note to his mother and has since told a psychologist when it began he "decided not to hurt anybody because he did not have the means to kill enough people," reports Stuff.
"The reason no-one was hurt was that he did not have access to knives," Mr Lange said.
The teen, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, harboured thoughts of killing people for five months and expected police would kill him after his rampage had started.
The incident had been strongly premeditated and the boy was hostile toward non-Muslims.
After his arrest, he told police he was angry and had "done it for Allah". The boy left school at age 15, became socially isolated, and converted to Islam.
The court adopted a rehabilitative approach to the teen's sentencing with Judge Stephen O'Driscoll releasing him on intensive supervision with a list of conditions and a warning that if he breaches these conditions or reoffends, he will likely be sent to prison.
One of the conditions - which applies for two years while the judge will monitor his progress - is counselling by a member of the Muslim community.
The boy's name has been suppressed and the details of the offending cannot be published. He admitted eight charges.
Even though the youth had been treated for months by the youth forensic psychiatric team, he was still seen as a high risk of reoffending, and a risk to family members and members of the public, Mr Lange said.
Newshub.
