Sydney plot prosecutor seeks extra time

Sydney: Prosecutors are examining surveillance records, computer files and phone tap transcripts to amass evidence against alleged members of a Sydney terror cell, a court was told on Tuesday.

Eight of the defendants were arrested in coordinated pre-dawn raids in Sydney in November and charged with conspiracy in connection with a plot to carry out a major bombing against an unknown target, perhaps Sydney's only nuclear reactor.

A ninth alleged member of the alleged cell was arrested a month later. They all face possible life sentences if convicted.

At a pretrial hearing yesterday, prosecutor Wendy Abraham asked for a four-week adjournment because of the "complexity" of the case and the large amounts of material still to be scrutinised, including "files, discs, telephone intercepts and other sorts of evidence".

She said there were "not hundreds of exhibits, but thousands of exhibits".

"Much of the evidence is surveillance electronic surveillance, as well as visual surveillance," she said.

Magistrate Allan Moore denied Abraham's request for an extension.

Meanwhile, defence attorney Adam Houda complained at the hearing about a delay in receiving the prosecution's brief of evidence was "unreasonable".

Houda said he had only received 24 out of a potential 40 prosecution files.

"I'm in limbo; what do I tell my clients?" he said to the magistrate.

Abraham told the court that "a significant amount of material has been provided to the defence" including the core of the prosecution case.