Terror suspect admits Israeli Embassy bomb plot
British-born terror suspect Jack Roche today pleaded guilty to plotting to bomb the Israeli Embassy in the Australian capital Canberra.
Roche, 50, originally from Britain, denied the charge at the start of the trial 10 days ago but today changed his plea to guilty.
He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
Roche, now an Australian citizen, was charged with conspiring to damage the Israeli Embassy with explosives and harm diplomatic staff. The plot was never carried out.
After Roche changed his plea, Justice Paul James Healy asked jurors who sat for the trial so far to give their verdict as well. The foreman later said the jury found Roche guilty. The judge set the sentencing for Tuesday.
Prosecutors accused Roche of joining a plot by members of the al Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah militant group to attack the Israeli Embassy.
Roche, who said he met Osama bin Laden once when he was sent to Afghanistan for training, admitted his involvement in the plot during trial testimony but said he had a change of heart about carrying it out and worked to have it cancelled.
