Fourth man in Curtis Cheng terror plot found guilty

A fourth man has been found guilty of plotting the execution of police accountant Curtis Cheng in the Parramatta Police Headquarters terror attack.

Mr Cheng’s widow Selina burst into tears as a jury delivered the verdict in the NSW Supreme Court this afternoon after two and a half days of deliberations.

They were convinced Mustafa Dirani, 25, acted as a lookout and made sure Raban Alou was not overheard as he discussed the plot in Parramatta with other men.

Dirani had also been an active member of a WhatsApp messaging group called “the Bricks” which had an Islamic State flag as its profile picture.

On the 2nd of October, 2015 Alou handed Farhad Jabar, 15, the Smith & Wesson .38 revolver he had secured following those secret meetings.

The handover took place in the female-only prayer hall at Parramatta Mosque which was not covered by CCTV.

Jabar gave the one fingered IS salute to a security camera before he walked the short distance to Parramatta Police Headquarters in 2015.

As Mr Cheng exited the building Jabar walked up behind him and shot him in the back of the head, he was killed instantly.

Jabar shouted “Allahu-akbar” before he was killed in an exchange of gunfire.

Police later found a note in his robes.

“By the will of Allah have come today to put terror in your hearts” it read in part.

For masterminding the attack Alou was jailed for a maximum of 44 years, Mustafa Dirani was jailed for 38 and Talal Alameddine was jailed for almost 18 years for sourcing the gun.

Dirani had argued he had never met Jabar and did not know what the men were planning. His barrister Mark Tedeschi QC told the jury Dirani was waiting for Alou so they could have lunch.

He will face a sentence hearing at a later date.