One image is of a teen who attended two so-called terrorist training camps and participated in military-style exercises to prepare for a massive attack and contributed to the group by stealing items such as walkie-talkies and outdoor supplies.
The other is of a troubled teen who had converted to Islam and went camping because he thought they were religious retreats, but was kept on the "down low" about their true purpose.
Surprisingly, both portraits were painted as Crown prosecutors John Neander and Marco Mendicino laid out their case against the accused, who is now 20 years old.
Moments after the Crown wrapped up its case yesterday in a Brampton court, defence counsel Mitchell Chernovsky and Faisal Mirza chose not to call any witnesses, leaving the prosecution's case to succeed or fail.
Over four weeks the trial heard evidence that included numerous electronic intercepts, videos and testimony from two men who attended the camps — witnesses who were later attacked by the Crown for downplaying the role of the youth.
The accused, who was 17 at the time of the alleged offences, was among 18 adults and youths charged in the summer of 2006 for allegedly belonging to a Mississauga-based terror cell that was plotting to storm Parliament Hill and to detonate truck bombs. Charges have since been stayed against three youths and four adults.
Much of the evidence focused on the alleged ringleaders, including intercepts of them speaking about obtaining weapons, orchestrating financial scams, securing a safe house and beheading politicians.
But the extent to which the youth was involved remains an issue. The Crown must prove that a terror group existed and that the youth knowingly participated in it.
Mubin Shaikh, a police agent who infiltrated the group, testified there was a "clear, overt, military context to the training" at a camp held in December 2005. He said activities included playing paintball war games, training with a nine-millimetre handgun and listening to extremist Islamist indoctrination.
But under cross-examination, Shaikh said the youths who attended were kept on the "down low" about the camp's purpose and told it was a "religious" outing. He also said firing the gun "freaked them out" and a speech exhorting the fall of Rome appeared to confuse them.
Closing arguments before Justice John Sproat are slated for July 10.
