Teenage boy, 15, charged over terrorist plot to attack a Federal Police building was 'radicalised a year ago carried an illegal gun' 

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A 15-year-old boy who was charged over a plot to carry out a terrorist attack at an Australian Federal Police (AFP) building had been radicalised and monitored by police for more than a year.

The teenager, whose name cannot be published for legal reasons, was also convicted of possessing an illegal firearm just four months before he was arrested on Thursday morning after five homes were raided in Sydney's south-west.

It has since emerged the boy was previously caught by police with a calibre .30-30 rifle in Chester Hill in December last year and was convicted in August, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

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A 15-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man (above) have been charged over an alleged plot to carry out a terrorist attack on a government building after five homes were raided in Sydney's south-west

The boy, from Georges Hall, was handed a good behaviour bond for 18 months and had to attend court-ordered counselling with a psychologist and prominent Muslim ambassador Hanan Dover.

His school and family had been heavily involved in trying to stamp out his radicalisation as were police.

The 15-year-old was arrested along with a 20-year-old man, from Raby, on Thursday and both were charged with one count of conspiracy to conduct an act in preparation for a terrorist attack each.

Footage and photographs outside the Raby man's home show him sitting on his driveway in handcuffs, and wearing a pair of blue, yellow and white board shorts and a blue singlet flanked by two counter-terrorism officers before being put into a police car.

AFP deputy commissioner Michael Phelan said officers were in the process of charging three others who are already in custody with the same offence.

A further three homes in Bankstown, Merrylands and Wiley Park were also searched but no-one was arrested. 

The pair have been charged with a count of conspiracy to conduct an act in preparation for a terrorist attack. It has since emerged the boy had been radicalised for more than a year

A further three homes in Bankstown, Merrylands and Wiley Park were also searched but no-one was arrested

The teenager and the man, who has been identified as Ibrahim Ghazzawy by the ABC, were arrested as part of Operation Appleby and they were involved in an alleged plot discovered by police in the December 2014 raids.

Mr Phelan said police were able to stop the attack from being carried out due to the previous raid. 

'Last December there were a number of documents seized... in Western Sydney and those documents, which is on the public record, clearly talked about a plan and there was government buildings named in those plans, specifically the AFP building,' he said on Thursday.

'As a result of putting all of that information together, working through those documents, putting physical and electronic surveillance together, we were able to build a case of conspiracy for five people involved in the preparation of these documents. 

'There's one mention of an AFP building but they got the address wrong.'

NSW Police deputy commissioner Catherine Burn said it was unclear what the 15-year-old's role in the alleged attack would have been.

The teenager and the Raby man (above) were arrested as part of Operation Appleby and they were involved in an alleged plot discovered by police in the raids in December 2014

His charge relates to activities he carried out last year when he was 14 years old.

'He was a part of the conspiracy so in terms of the preparation and planning with the material that was being presented,' Ms Burn told reporters on Thursday.

'I think the important thing to say is that it's disturbing that we're continuing to see teenage children in this environment.

'We're charging a 15-year-old with a very, very serious offence. This is an offence that has a maximum of life imprisonment, this is concerning not only to us in law enforcement but should be concerning to everybody.'

The 20-year-old man will appear before Campbelltown Local Court on Friday and the 15-year-old boy in Parramatta Children's Court later on Thursday.

Mr Phelan does not believe the planned attack was linked to Islamic State.

The suspects arrested on Thursday morning were associates of the people who were involved in the murder of police accountant Curtis Cheng in October.

But police were not aware of any direct connection between Parramatta shooter Farhad Jabar and the 15-year-old boy from Georges Hall.

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