Police allegedly uncovered two illegal pistols during a Monday morning raid at a house at Windang, less than 100 metres from the scene of a public place shooting 24 hours earlier.
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Joel Terrence Charnock-Budd (pictured right) fronted Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday on a host of firearms charges after police allegedly discovered a Sig Sauer P226 .22 calibre pistol and a Glock 17 .45 calibre pistol at his Kurrajong Street home.
The court heard officers attached to Strike Force Raptor entered Charnock-Budd's home under the provisions of firearms and weapons prohibitions orders, which Charnock-Budd had been subject to since 2019.
The guns were allegedly discovered in a cardboard box inside the master bedroom.
Charnock-Budd was remanded in custody overnight but sought release on bail in court on Tuesday.
Magistrate Susan McGowan refused the application, noting the strength of the case against Charnock-Budd and citing Sunday's shooting incident at Windang, although stressed the two cases were unrelated and her comments were "general" in nature.
"I haven't taken into account [in determining bail] the unfortunate incident in Windang on Sunday, but that's a lesson for the community of what can happen when people are in possession of firearms," she said.
"Things can get out of hand very quickly. Luckily no one was injured there. I'm just making general comments."
Defence lawyer Claire Carpenter had argued in favour of Charnock-Budd's release, suggesting there may be an issue at hearing about whether the prosecution could prove their claims that the 29-year-old was in legal possession of the guns at the time.
She also noted Charnock-Budd would be classified as a "vulnerable" person if remanded in custody due to mental health conditions of depression and anxiety.
Meanwhile, police prosecutor Sergeant Ben Bragger opposed Charnock-Budd's release.
"The community rightly gets very nervous when people have possession of pistols they aren't meant to have," he said.
"There's every chance of a custodial sentence being imposed if he's convicted of the firearms offences."
Charnock-Budd will remain behind bars until at least his next court date on December 14.
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