SYMPATHY SOUGHT; REJECTED

Shane Kent, 32, has pleaded guilty to membership in a terrorist organisation. The ABC reports that Kent "does not believe he could survive many more years in jail" after three years on remand and is apparently depressed and suicidal.

At today's pre-sentence hearing his lawyer offered ignorance as a mitigating factor (in relation to Kent's role in preparing a promotional video) but the presiding judge was unmoved:

Kent's defence lawyers argued Kent made the graphics for the video's seven-minute introduction, and there was no evidence he knew how the film would turn out.

But Justice Bernard Bongiorno said that given the introductory references to blood and martyrdom, it would have been remarkable if the rest of the video was of sheep grazing in a paddock.

Hey, maybe it was the al Qaeda version of Bambi. Oh deer!