A LAVINGTON father and son have avoided convictions on firearms offences which arose after they moved their guns to NSW following an attempted break-in at a Victorian property they jointly own.
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Robert Claude Morey and son Jeremy Kye Morey are the co-owners of a property in the Tallangatta Valley in Victoria, which has a gun safe.
Solicitor Mark Cronin said there was an attempted break-in at the property and a police officer advised the Moreys to relocate their guns.
They were moved and stored in a gun safe where Jeremy Morey was living in Desmond Street at Lavington.
His father took a .22 rifle from the gun safe late on November 15 and stored it behind the seat in his locked utility, intending to attend the farm early the next morning.
He left home at 4am and when he arrived at his property he discovered the gun had been stolen.
It was reported to police and officers attended Jeremy Morey’s home and charged him with a series of offences from a technical breach of NSW gun laws, despite the firearms being appropriately stored.
Robert Morey, 61, of Rose Street, appeared in Albury Local Court and pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to safely keep a firearm.
Jeremy Morey, 36, now of Briardale Road, pleaded guilty to seven counts of possessing an unauthorised firearm.
After hearing the circumstances leading to the gun being stolen, magistrate Tony Murray said he was considering imposing no conviction and asked prosecutor Sgt Shannon Lewis whether she wanted to comment.
Sgt Lewis said the stolen firearm had not been recovered by police.
“People who own firearms should take all reasonable precautions to keep them safe,” she said.
“Gun owners in NSW have a responsibility to the community.”
Mr Murray imposed a 12-month bond without conviction on Robert Morey and said his offending fell at the lower end of the scale.
Mr Cronin said police went to Jeremy Morey’s home and found seven guns legally stored in a safe and there was no issue about storage or him having a shooter’s licence.
But Mr Cronin said Morey should have completed a permit to have them in NSW because they had been stored there for about six months.
Mr Cronin said it was another border anomaly and undoubtedly the permit application would have been approved by the NSW Firearms Registry.
Mr Murray sentenced Jeremy Morey to a 12-month bond without conviction and said it was a reflection of the criminality involved.
