A man has been jailed for his part in attempting to organise a trade of guns for drugs and cash after they were stolen from a Shepparton house.
Nicholas Hawkins, 32, from Ocean Grove, pleaded guilty in Bendigo County Court to possessing a firearm contrary to a firearm prohibition order and handling stolen goods, as well as a summary charge of committing an indictable offence while on bail.
The court heard two other men cut a gun safe containing guns and ammunition from where it was bolted to the wall and floor at a Shepparton house on August 28, 2021.
The two men then took it to a third man’s house where they used power tools to open the safe and remove the guns.
The third man then sent photos of two guns to Hawkins on an encrypted app, offering them for sale.
One of the initial men involved met Hawkins and a fourth man, where he asked for payment of $1000 cash, a litre of GHB, 1.5 ounces of methamphetamines and two nights’ accommodation as payment for the guns.
Hawkins helped carry the guns into the house and then out again to the fourth man’s car before that man drove away with them.
The prosecutor said both the prosecution and defence agreed that Hawkins knew there were at least two guns in the boxes.
No money or drugs changed hands, with the third man who set up the sale of the guns later receiving only a small amount of drugs.
Hawkins’s defence barrister Remy van de Wiel told the court his client and the third man initially started talking about toys for their children.
He also said the man knew about Hawkins’s “love of firearms” and made it known to him that he could get some guns.
“He has an obsession with firearms,” Mr van de Wiel said.
However, he said in this case, Hawkins’s proximity to the guns was only for about 20 minutes before they were taken away by the fourth person, who Mr van de Wiel said was the person who gained the most.
“Hawkins got nothing out of it,” he said.
“He had nothing to do with them save for carrying them into the house.”
Hawkins’s father also gave evidence in court about his son’s paranoid schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses, as well as that he used methamphetamines.
He told the court his son’s paranoia made him “think people are spying on him” and that guns were “about trying to protect himself when people came for him”.
He also said his son was usually medicated for the paranoid schizophrenia but at the time was refusing his medication and was using ice regularly.
Mr van de Wiel argued that despite prior convictions that were firearms-related, his client was “not a career criminal”, and was rather a “man with mental health issues”.
He also said Hawkins had been clean from drug use since he was released on bail in June last year, and had matured now he had a young child, who was born while he was on remand for this matter.
Judge John Carmody sentenced Hawkins to 250 days’ jail, but he is already free after having served that time in pre-sentence detention while waiting for the matter to be finalised in court.
He was also placed on a two-year community corrections order, which included 100 hours of community work, as well as conditions that he undergo drug treatment and testing and mental health treatment.
Judge Carmody said Hawkins’s rehabilitation prospects were fair.
“If you remain drug-free and on a mental health plan, you have a good chance to remain out of the criminal justice system,” he said.