Newly released court documents have laid bare the chilling, months-long preparation for the deadly terror attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach, revealing the use of a homemade "tennis ball bomb" and video recordings of the perpetrators' training.
Meticulous Planning and Failed Explosives
Police allege that father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram meticulously planned the assault for several months, even visiting the famous beach for reconnaissance just two days before carrying it out. The attack targeted a seaside Hanukkah celebration on 13 December.
According to the police facts, the duo threw four improvised explosive devices towards the crowd. These included three pipe bombs and one "tennis ball bomb," but all failed to explode. When the explosives did not detonate, the gunmen opened fire on the public with shotguns and a rifle.
ISIS-Inspired Training and Justification
The court exhibits include videos recovered from the pair's mobile phones. One video, recorded in October 2025, shows the two conducting "firearms training" in a rural area of New South Wales. Another features them sitting in front of an image of an ISIS flag, making statements that police say outline their justification for the attack.
In that video, they are heard condemning "the acts of 'Zionists'." Naveed Akram is also recorded apparently reciting a passage from the Quran in Arabic.
The Night of the Attack
On the day of the massacre, CCTV captured the men leaving their rented home in Campsie, Sydney, in the early hours. They were seen carrying "long and bulky items wrapped in blankets," which they loaded into their car. These items were later identified as two single-barrel shotguns, a Beretta rifle, the four IEDs, and two homemade ISIS flags.
They left again after 5pm and arrived at Bondi Beach around 6:50pm. After parking, they placed the ISIS flags on their car windows before launching the attack. Sajid Akram, a licensed firearm owner, was shot dead by police at the scene. His son, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, has been charged with 15 counts of murder.
The charges also include a terrorism offence, 40 counts relating to wounding or grievous bodily harm with intent to murder, firing a weapon, displaying a banned terrorist symbol, and placing an explosive device.
Prosecutors will argue that Akram's actions were intended to advance a religious motive, causing deaths, severe injuries, and putting the wider public at risk. The documents were made public after Naveed Akram appeared via video link from a Sydney hospital on Monday 22 December 2025.
