STATE OF TASMANIA v ZACHARY MICHAEL CARR 16 MARCH 2026
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE ESTCOURT J
The defendant Zachary Michael Carr, who was 29 years old at the time of the offending, has pleaded guilty to the crime of possessing stolen firearms and to associated summary firearms and drug offences on complaints 8879/2025 and 8881/2025, as described in these comments.
During the execution of a search warrant on 24 July 2025, members of Tasmania Police located and photographed the following items:
- 1 x black Beretta 12-gauge break action double barrel over and under shotgun (Charge 1 on Complaint No 8879/2025);
- 1 x shortened Oyez – arms code break action 410-gauge shotgun (Charges 2 and 3 on Complaint No 8879/2025);
- 44 x 12-gauge shotgun cartridges (Charge 1 on Complaint No 8881/2025); and
- A quantity of methylamphetamine contained in small zip lock bags (Charge 2 on Complaint No 8881/2025)
Tasmania Police confirmed that the Beretta shotgun had been stolen from an address in Cambridge in or around the 14 February 2025. The serial number of the shortened Oyez arms shotgun had been defaced and therefore could not be confirmed as stolen.
The defendant has an unimpressive record of prior convictions, mostly for dishonesty and driving but also some limited firearms offences.
He had been in custody since his arrest on 25 July 2025 until I released him on bail on Friday, 13 March 2026, a total of 231 days, 106 of which were half day lockdowns, as a result of administrative difficulties in the prison, and 82 of which were for that reason, full day lockdowns.
Firearms offences of this nature are extremely serious and general deterrence is an important sentencing consideration. There are no significant mitigating factors in this case. Nonetheless, in my view the time spent in prison in this case represents an adequate sentence taking the relevant considerations into account.
The defendant is convicted of each of the crimes and offences to which he has pleaded guilty and is sentenced to a single sentence of 231 days’ imprisonment, back dated to 25 July 2025.