An Illawarra mum found in possession of two replica handguns that were ultimately destined for her five-year-old son has been sentenced to 20 months’ jail.
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The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted to police her criminal brother had purchased the air pistol online for her young son and that they “looked substantially like real handguns” and were capable of shooting small pellets.
Documents tendered to Wollongong Local Court at the woman’s sentencing hearing said police arrived at the Berkeley house shared by the woman, her brother and his defacto partner for an unannounced firearms prohibition order inspection on June 27.
When asked if she had anything illegal in the house, the woman told officers there was a “BB gun” in the kitchen.
Officers said they located a small cardboard box at the top of the kitchen cabinet which was addressed to her brother care of his old home address.
The box contained contained an image of an air pistol and was labelled “PAIFA P.0621 Air Soft Gun”. It contained two black coloured spring actuated air pistols, one of which was completely assembled. The other was still in pieces.
On any sensible view these were completely inappropriate toys for a five-year-old child
- Magistrate Chris McRobert
Also inside the box were assembly instructions with diagrams depicting the air pistol in various states of assembly, small pellets encased in a plastic magazine designed to be inserted into the gun and literature that described the pistols as 1/1 real scale completed high grade hop up type air soft gun”.
“The accused admitted possession of the air pistols, stating they were for her son and that they were purchased online by [her brother],” the court documents said.
When formally interviewed by police the following month, the woman said she was unaware the pistols were illegal or classified as firearms.
She was charged with four firearm offences including two counts of possessing an unauthorised pistol.
In sentencing the woman to full-time jail, Magistrate Chris McRobert noted she had an extensive criminal history and had shown a “total lack of insight” into her offending.
“On any sensible view these were completely inappropriate toys for a five-year-old child,” he said.
The woman will become eligible for parole after serving 15 months of her sentence.
