Authorities face backlash as Melbourne teenager has Anzac Day terrorism charges dropped

A Melbourne teenager who was accused by prosecutors with plotting a terrorist attack on Australia's solemnest day, Anzac Day, has had his charges dropped on Tuesday.

Harun Causevic, 18, was accused with conspiring to commit an act of terror during Anzac Day commemorations on April 25 this year.

The plan allegedly involved driving a car into police, beheading them, stealing their weapon and then proceeding on a shooting rampage.

However, due to a lack of evidence, prosecutors were forced to withdraw the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison, before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews defended the prosecution's decision to back down for the original charges.

Instead, Causevic pleaded guilty to three charges of weapon possession, including an AK-47 police found hidden under his bed following counter-terrorism raids earlier this year.

Causevic has been held in custody since April, and was the first person in Victoria to be detained under a preventative detention order after he was initially held without charge following the counter-terrorism raids.

This year, Australia commemorated the 100th anniversary of its most storied wartime military expedition, the landing of Australia and New Zealand army corps (Anzac) on Turkey's Gallipoli Cove on April 25, 1915.

Australia sustained major casualties at Gallipoli, with more than 8,000 of the country's total 60,000 deaths in World War 1 eventuating from the disastrous eight-month campaign.

Each April 25th, Australians remember their fellow countrymen and New Zealanders who died fighting for their country in Gallipoli, along with all those who have done the same in conflicts since. Endi