A man was fined $1300 in Orange Local Court for possessing an illegal firearm and ammunition without a licence.
A MAN locked himself inside the bathroom of a Diamond Drive house before calling police, saying he could hear a rifle being loaded and unloaded outside the door.
Fearing for his life, the man’s call led to a police raid and the arrest of a man for the possession of illegal firearms and ammunition.
Police arrived at the house at 2.15am on January 12 after the emergency call, finding some of the occupants in the house affected by drugs and an unlicensed .22 magnum calibre rifle leaning against a cupboard.
Jermaine Hendrickse, 38, who was at the house at the time, owned the unlicensed firearm and 30 rounds of ammunition, which was seized by police.
On Thursday he was fined $1300 in Orange Local Court for possessing the illegal firearm and ammunition without a licence.
Magistrate Bruce Williams issued a stern warning to Henrickse, saying having the unlicensed firearm in an environment where people were heavily affected by drugs was a disaster waiting to happen.
“What if the person who was hallucinating because of drugs picked up the gun and started spraying bullets around?” Mr Williams said.
Hendrickse told the court he gave the gun and ammunition to a friend at the house who already owned a licensed firearm, so the unlicensed firearm could be kept safely.
Solicitor for the accused, Rebecca McIlveen said her client assured her he had kept his eye on the gun the whole time, on the night he was arrested.
Police Prosecutor Phil Donato said although the accused had some matters on his record from the time he was living in Western Australia, he had no previous history of possessing unlicensed firearms.
In evidence presented to the court, police say the accused immediately admitted to owning the firearm after it was discovered during a search of the house.
Hendrickse was fined $900 on the charge of possessing an unregistered firearm and $400 on the second charge of illegally possessing ammunition.
He was also ordered to pay $83 in court costs for each charge.
The magistrate ordered the firearm and ammunition be confiscated.
Mr Williams told the accused the only reason he wasn’t sending him to jail was because he believed there was no intent surrounding his actions.
“In this case there doesn’t appear to be anything sinister in your actions,” Mr Williams said.
