Yazen Jweinat, 22, a Bulgarian citizen resident in the United Arab Emirates, also had files titled ''Illegal Collection'' with instructions for identity fraud, disengaging electromagnetic door locks and techniques for killing humans.
Prosecutor Tony Burns told the County Court that after Jweinat was stopped and his baggage examined by customs officers on January 10 last year two ''graphic'' images were also found, including one of an armed man holding a decapitated head.
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Jweinat, of South Yarra, was appealing a magistrate's sentence of a conviction and 200 hours of unpaid community work after he pleaded guilty to two charges that included importing a prohibited import.His barrister Peter Lange suggested to Judge Chris O'Neill that Jweinat was a young man with a ''prurient interest'' in such matters who had engaged in adolescent behaviour without a sinister motive.
A conviction could jeopardise his chances of employment after graduating from the Australian National Airline College, he said.
In evidence, Jweinat said that before arriving in Melbourne in 2009, he asked a friend to download movies and TV shows to his laptop, and the friend had also copied the ''collection'' files. He admitted viewing the files ''out of curiosity'' and did not delete them because ''I never thought it would be such a big problem''.
In yesterday granting Jweinat's appeal, Judge O'Neill said that while some of the material could incite crimes, he accepted that was not Jweinat's purpose. Allowing the files to be downloaded was stupid, immature and thoughtless ''rather than anything more serious''.
Jweinat was released on a $1000 two-year bond without conviction and was ordered to pay $15,000 costs.
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