STATE OF TASMANIA v NEIL GORDON WHITFORD 20 MARCH 2023
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE PEARCE J
Neil Whitford you plead guilty to a number of firearm offences all arising from your possession and use of a Ruger semi-automatic self-loading rim fire rifle which the police found at your home in Deviot on 3 November 2021. You are 60 and have lifelong experience with firearms. You have been the holder of a category A firearm license since the introduction of the licensing regime in 1996. At that time you already owned this firearm but you did not obtain the category C licence which was required to authorise possession of a self-loading rim-fire rifle. The rifle was not registered. You knew that you required, but did not have, such a licence but instead of handing the rifle in you disassembled it and kept it securely stored in your gunsafe. There it stayed until 2021.
You live alone in a house on a 15 acre rural property which is mostly native bushland. In 2021 it was, along with neighbouring properties, invaded by a large number of birds, kookaburras, which you believed had been driven from other areas by fires. Kookaburras are not native to Tasmania and in such numbers they pose a threat to small native mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. I am informed that culling is not unlawful and this is what you decided to do. I express no view one way or another about the rights and wrongs of it or whether some alternative course could have been adopted. I am dealing only with the firearm offences. You ordered a firearm suitable for the task but when you were informed that it would not arrive for a long time you decided to resort to the self-loading rifle which you retrieved and re-assembled. It is a weapon which is suitable for the purpose for which you intended to use it but only works effectively for that purpose with a silencer. You ordered a silencer from overseas via the internet. When it was delivered it did not function correctly until you undertook modifications to ensure it stayed securely fixed to the rifle. According to the legislation that amounted to manufacturing the silencer. You then used the weapon as I have explained over a period of about nine months including on the morning the police arrived.
All of that resulted in the following offences. The rifle was a prohibited firearm. You did not have a licence for it but, with a silencer fitted, no licence could be issued which authorised your possession or use of it. Hence, you are guilty of the indictable offence of possessing and using a prohibited firearm for which a licence could not be issued. You also committed the summary offences of possessing an unregistered firearm and manufacturing, possessing and using a silencer.
This matter apart, you have for decades complied with the regulatory regime and been a responsible firearm owner and user. I have been given a number of references from neighbours and local community members which attest to your skill and experience with firearms, extending to wildlife and feral animal control. Your referees regard you as a good neighbour and valuable community member. I am satisfied that the rifle was used safely and you did not cause any danger or pose a risk to any person or other animal with it. Your circumstances are to be clearly distinguished from one in which an offender may possess a firearm for some criminal or nefarious purpose. Such cases require the imposition of very much harsher penalties than the one I am about to impose. However the fact remains that you knowingly possessed and used that type of rifle, especially when accompanied by a silencer, in a manner which was not authorised. The law provides for heavy penalties for unlicensed possession of prohibited firearms and for the other offences you committed. That much is made even clearer by the fact that parliament has provided that this is an offence which is to be dealt with in the Supreme Court. In the wrong hands such weapons are capable of posing a significant risk. The sentence I impose on you must not only make clear to you, but also to others who may be tempted to act as you did, that the law is not to be disregarded without consequences.
Apart from a few traffic offences you have no prior convictions. Throughout your life you have held secure employment until health problems led to your retirement. You now rely on social security benefits. Payment of a fine will be a significant punishment for you. I would have ordered some community service but your health makes you unsuitable.
Neil Whitford, you are convicted on the indictment and on complaint 30603/22, counts 4. 6, 7 and 8. I impose one sentence. You are fined $5,000. I may only give you 28 days to pay but you may apply to enter into a repayment arrangement.