STATE OF TASMANIA v MERAKI SHARKA JAMES MANSELL 31 MARCH 2020
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BLOW CJ
Mr Mansell, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of dealing in firearms whilst not the holder of a firearm dealers licence, and also to five summary offences that would ordinarily be dealt with in the Magistrates Court. There is a charge of acquiring ammunition when you were not the holder of a firearms licence; one of failing to take precautions to ensure the safekeeping of a firearm and ammunition (that apparently relates to the fact that you did not have a gun safe); one of possessing a firearm when you did not have the appropriate licence; one of acquiring a firearm when you did not have the appropriate licence; and, finally, a charge of breaching a police family violence order. The family violence order was made on 27 March last year. One of its requirements was that you were not to have a firearm or ammunition in your possession. You have never had a firearms licence.
You bought a rifle for $400. You did not intend to harm any people with it. You went shooting in the bush with it. You used a whole box of ammunition, and, eventually, you exchanged the rifle for some drugs.
There are a couple of serious aspects to these charges. The first is that, by acquiring that rifle, you contravened a police family violence. These orders are made because of the problem of domestic violence in this State. People who are the subject of those orders are not allowed to have guns for obvious reasons. There is no suggestion that you were a risk to your former partner. But anything can happen and orders are orders, and you are meant to comply with them. So that is serious. The law is strict about firearms, especially after the Port Arthur massacre, because, frankly, they can be used to shoot people. You exchanged this weapon that the police are not able to locate. You gave it to a man and all that we know is that he was somebody who had some drugs that he was willing to trade. That gun could be anywhere. It could be in the hands of criminals. It is a dangerous situation that you have created.
The only appropriate course for me to take is to give you a bit more time in prison. I am taking into account the fact that you have been in prison since June of last year, and, without the sentence that I give, the best you can hope for is to get out in August of this year. And so I will impose a more lenient sentence than I otherwise would, but it will still be a severe one because of what you have done.
I take into account the fact that you have had a terrible problem with drugs since you were 14. You know better than I do how hard it is to get off drugs. You want to, you are doing all the right things. You have the support of your mother. You have employment lined up. But I think that the only appropriate thing I can do is to give you a bit more time in gaol.
I convict you and sentence you to five months’ imprisonment, cumulatively with all your other sentences. I have to specify that you will not be eligible for parole.