A “science nerd” who wanted to collect all the elements of the periodic table could face jail time after ordering radioactive material over the internet.
But Emmanuel Lidden, 24, will have to wait to learn his sentence after breaching nuclear non-proliferation laws by shipping samples of plutonium to his parents’ suburban Sydney apartment.
Lidden pleaded guilty to offences under Australia’s Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act that carry a possible 10-year jail sentence, and is due to receive his sentence from the judge Leonie Flannery on 11 April.
The importation sparked a major hazmat alert, with Australian Border Force (ABF) officials, firefighters, police and paramedics all attending the scene in August 2023.
Far from there being any intention of building something nefarious like a nuclear weapon, Lidden’s lawyer John Sutton described his client as an “innocent collector” and “science nerd” who had been left flipping burgers after being sacked from his job because of the investigation.
“He did not import or possess these items with any sinister intent … these were offences committed out of pure naivety,” Sutton told Sydney’s Downing Centre district court on Friday.
“It was a manifestation of self-soothing retreating into collection, it could have been anything but in this case he latched on to the collection of the periodic table.”
Lidden had also been a keen collector of stamps, banknotes and coins.
But prosecutors said describing the young man as a simple collector and science nerd was a mischaracterisation.
“Collectors” seeking illegal material created a market that might not have otherwise existed, the court was told.
Sutton argued that border force officials had engaged in duplicitous and unfair conduct by returning some of the material to Lidden after initially seizing it.
“[Lidden] knew this was a radioactive substance but he was allowed to possess it, and perhaps he thought it was because it was a minimal quantity,” Sutton said.
“There was no Sherlock Holmes detection here by the ABF, the packages had [Lidden’s] address and his name … investigators were aware he had obtained this material and it was in a very small quantity.”
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The court heard that Lidden had ordered the items from a US-based science website and they had been delivered to his parents’ home.
Sutton described their seizure as a “circus”.
“The level of the response was a massive overreaction given what the investigative authority already knew,” he said.
“Rather than give [Lidden] an opportunity to return the items, the kitchen sink was thrown at him, along with the utensils inside.”
Formerly a trainee train driver, Lidden lost his job with Sydney Trains after disclosing to his employer that he was being investigated.
The court heard that he now worked at a fast-food restaurant flipping burgers.
“Against my legal advice, he disclosed to his employer that he had been investigated by the ABF,” Sutton told the court. “They terminated him for lack of transparency and honesty, but how can that be?
“He hadn’t even been charged and the reward for his honesty was termination.”