By Cam Lucadou-Wells
An unemployed 41-year-old ice addict has claimed that a cluster of home-made fire-arms found at his Cranbourne home were for video props, the Victorian County Court has heard.
It was a “very unusual” and “troubling” explanation, said sentencing judge Phillip Coish on 25 June.
The accused Christopher Clarke, in a letter to the court, had said “I simply do it for the challenge and mechanics of making them”.
Clarke pleaded guilty to possessing a trafficable amount of firearms and imitation firearms that were discovered during a police raid of his home on 11 August 2017.
Police also seized 35.7 grams of white crystal substances containing methamphetamine, a machete-like sword, a samurai sword and three other swords as well as gun componentry.
None of the six firearms as well as ammunition seized had been securely stored, Judge Coish noted.
The cache included a working handgun and side-by-side shotgun, with others capable of discharging with “further work”.
Clarke had admitted making a number of the weapons on his lathe, including a pen pistol and an Uzi handgun.
He was on bail and a community corrections order at the time.
Judge Coish noted there was no evidence that the weapons were associated with other criminal activity and that Clarke was “genuinely remorseful”.
Clarke, who had been heavily using ice every day at the time of the raid, had been drug-free while in remand custody. His drug use had escalated after being made redundant in late 2016.
On 8 December, Clarke served four months jail for car theft, drug and driving offences. Surrounding that time, he spent 119 days in pre-sentence detention for the County Court charges.
Judge Coish said a community corrections order – on top of jail – was not an appropriate sentence given Clarke had breached a CCO at the time.
He set a shorter non-parole period given Clarke’s good rehabilitation prospects if drug-free, family support and his constructive use of his remand time.
Clarke was convicted and jailed for 24 months with a non-parole period of one year. His pre-sentence detention period was included in the sentence.
