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But who is Khaled Sharrouf and how did he end up as the poster boy for Western jihadism?
His history reveals a very different picture – a drug-addled petty criminal whose substance abuse led to chronic mental illness.
"He was a drop-out at school. He was ultimately expelled at a very early age for poor behaviour," former Supreme Court justice Anthony Whealy said.
"He soon took up drugs and became involved in petty criminality and it seems that part of the people he started to mix with introduced to him a very extreme form of radical Islamic religion."
It was this that led to his first serious run in with the law.
In 2005 Sharrouf was charged, along with eight other Sydney men, over the biggest terrorism plot in Australian history.
He was charged with possessing items to be used for a terrorist act – six clocks and 140 batteries he stole from a Big W store.
Sharrouf a 'very ill man', had severe schizophrenia: judge
Justice Whealy presided over the terrorism trials and heard evidence from psychiatrists who diagnosed Sharrouf with chronic schizophrenia, likely caused by his earlier sustained use of LSD, ecstasy and amphetamines.
"He was very ill mentally. He had very severe schizophrenia, he suffered from delusions - every report was very clear on this point," Justice Whealy told 7.30.
"His symptoms were quite severe, he was quite delusional.
"He was overheard talking to other people when no-one was there. This was observed on quite a few occasions and it was a state of mind that persisted for some time."
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On his release Sharrouf fell back into the criminal world.
Police say Sharrouf was carrying out violent extortions in the construction industry, while claiming a disability pension for his mental illness.
It was a dangerous game - a year ago his business partner, Vasko Boskovski, was shot dead in a suburban Sydney street.
Sharrouf threw himself back into hardline Islam.
He began attending the Al Risalah prayer centre in Sydney's west three years ago.
Last December Sharrouf slipped out of Australia, travelling on his brother's passport, headed for Syria.
"He's a very sad, pathetic figure. He remains a highly unintelligent man who has no perception of himself."
-Justice Anthony Whealy
