A MOUNT Gambier man will spend seven months and nine days on home detention after police located a .22 calibre bolt action rifle in the roof of his partner’s home last year.
Benjamin James Jackway, 27, appeared in the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court to be sentenced for serious firearms charges and cultivating cannabis.
The prosecution said police searched Jackway’s partner’s house on November 10, 2016, and found a firearm in the ceiling of the premises.
The house was searched on the same day police were trying to locate Victorian fugitive Lachlan Mitchell and Ethan Geebung after they threatened a man at gunpoint on the outskirts of Mount Gambier.
Jackway told the court the firearm was brought to him by Geebung weeks earlier and he was asked to store the weapon.
Police conducted forensic tests and found DNA on the firearm, despite Jackway saying he never held the gun.
Giving evidence in court on Tuesday, Jackway said the gun was wrapped in his clothing, which would have carried his DNA.
The defendant’s lawyer said her client did not dispute that he knew the firearm was in the roof, but argued there was exceptional circumstances because Jackway was manipulated.
Magistrate Teresa Anderson said the offending was extremely serious because the firearm was not registered, not secure and Jackway did not have a licence to possess a firearm.
Despite this, she said she was willing to accept Jackway was asked to hold the gun by another person and did not have the social skills to tell him to take it away.
“You did not think taking it to police was an option and your decision was influenced by your autism disorder,” Magistrate Anderson said.
Jackway was sentenced to seven months and nine days imprisonment, however Magistrate Anderson allowed the sentence to be served on home detention.
He was sentenced to a further 18 days for cultivating small cannabis plants, however that sentence was suspended on him entering a $500, 12-month supervised good behaviour bond.
“Although the plants were quite small, you were not deterred by previous penalties,” Magistrate Anderson said.
The offending also breached a suspended sentence bond, however Magistrate Anderson found good reason to excuse the breach.
She placed the defendant on a fresh bond to be of good behaviour for a further 12 months.
Jackway was also fined $300.
