In an escalation in a crash‑panic case, Naveed Akram, 24, the man accused of killing fifteen people in a December assault on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach, has now been charged with 19 new offences.
He was already linked to 59 charges – 15 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one of “committing a terrorist act.” The fresh bullet‑sight charges consist of 10 counts of shooting with intent to murder, six of discharging a firearm with intent to resist arrest, and three of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder.
According to court records seen last week, the new charges were filed in April but only now have been officially confirmed by authorities. Akram, who has appeared in short court sessions, has yet to enter a plea and is scheduled to return in August.
Prosecutors said the Joint Counter‑Terrorism Team is making “steady progress” through evidence that includes roughly 230,000 CCTV images and digital content from devices linked to fighters believed to be connected with him. The videos show the father and son engaged in gun‑training exercises and shots with a weapon. Their father, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police at the scene of the December attack.
Akram’s lawyer Leonie Gittani told the media that the extra charges were not surprising; “this is a matter of this magnitude, it’s not unusual for additional charges to be laid,” she said, adding the case will be a protracted judicial process.
The Bondi Beach shooting was Australia’s worst mass shooting in nearly three decades and has triggered sweeping gun‑law reforms, an anti‑hate‑speech crackdown and a royal commission into antisemitism. The Commission’s hearings, begun in February, will debate policies at the intersection of community safety and free speech.
