A Perth magistrate has lifted a suppression order on the identity of Liam Alexander Hall, a 32-year-old man accused of attempting to bomb an Invasion Day rally in Perth.
Magistrate Lynette Dias told the court on Tuesday that openness of the court is fundamental in the administration of justice.
“Media should be able to report on any matter that appears before the court, generally speaking, to provide a fair and accurate report,” Dias said.
She said that there were some circumstances where the court may make a suppression order, and this can only occur if there are proper grounds to do so.
“It is not in the interest of justice to make a suppression order for the commonwealth charge, which otherwise suspends the suppression order for the state charges.”
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She added there was a public interest in “the exposure of court proceedings to public scrutiny” to ensure “maintenance of confidence in the integrity … of the court”.
“Public interest will generally prevail over the adverse personal consequences to litigants and to those associated with them.”
Hall was scheduled to appear via video link from prison on Tuesday morning, but did not appear. He is being held on remand charged with engaging in a terrorist act, making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances and one count of intent to harm or doing an act which could endanger the life, health or safety of any person.
It is the first time that terrorism charges have been laid in WA.
The defence lawyer, Simon Freitag, requested the case be adjourned for six weeks on the advice of Hall’s treating psychologist. Freitag said Hall was mentally unwell and at risk of harm if his identity where to be revealed.
“He can’t even appear before the court today,” Freitag said.
About 2,500 people were in Perth’s CBD on 26 January when Hall allegedly threw a homemade “fragment bomb”, filled with ball bearings and nails, off a balcony and into the crowd.
The device, which was allegedly designed to explode on impact, did not detonate.
The terrorism charge was transferred from state to commonwealth prosecutors.
The federal prosecution lawyer Kirsten Nelson argued that any risk to Hall could be managed in custody. She maintained that the issue was in the public interest and must follow the principles of a fair and open court system.
Nelson said that a case of misidentification had already occurred and that risk continued while the accused’s identity was concealed.
At the time of the alleged offence, Hall lived alone in Perth. He was remanded in custody to appear again on 31 March.
This article was amended on 17 February 2026. An earlier version stated the accused man appeared in court; he was called but did not appear.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
