Sevdet Ramadan Besim, 19, makes a last-minute change to his plea over an allegation he planned an attack in which a police officer was to be beheaded

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A Melbourne teenager accused of plotting an Anzac Day terrorist attack that would have included the beheading of a police officer has pleaded guilty to planning a terrorist act.

Sevdet Ramadan Besim, 19, entered the last-minute plea on Thursday during legal argument before his trial, which was due to start in the Victorian supreme court next month.

Besim pleaded guilty to one count of doing an act in preparation or planning for a terrorist act, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Police had accused him of plotting an Anzac Day terrorist attack in Melbourne last year in which a police officer was to be beheaded.

Besim said he was “ready to fight these dogs on there [sic] doorstep” in online communications with a person overseas, according to court documents previously released to the media.

“I’d love to take out some cops,” Besim is alleged to have said. “I was gonna meet with them then take some heads ahaha.”

Police say the pair, on a later occasion, also talked generally about Australian wildlife, with a suggestion that a kangaroo could be packed with explosives, painted with “the IS symbol” and set loose on officers.

Documents before the court do not suggest the alleged kangaroo discussion was linked to Anzac Day, or any other target.

Besim has been in custody since 18 April last year, when 200 heavily armed officers raided houses across the city’s south-east, arresting five teens, and seizing knives and swords.

He will face a plea hearing on 1 August. He was originally committed for trial on four charges but now only the one remains.