A MAN police describe as the Bandidos Mersey River Chapter sergeant-at-arms has been sentenced to jail for firearms trafficking, and has had a suspended sentence reactivated.
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After pleading guilty in the Burnie Supreme Court on Tuesday, Todd Michael Walker, 34, was sentenced to six months jail. Justice Robert Pearce said a sentence of imprisonment was required for the charge.
“A single instance is enough to constitute trafficking,” he said when imposing the six month jail term. Justice Pearce also reactivated Walker’s 2014 suspended sentence.
The reactivated sentence would last for six months, with the two sentences to be served one after the other, totalling 12 months, with parole after six months at the earliest.
Walker was convicted of trafficking a Glock nine-millimetre self-loading pistol between April and June 2016.
Crown Prosecutor John Ransom said Devonport police began Operation Juggernaut in October 2015, to watch the movements of several suspects and intercept their phone calls.
It is just the type of weapon that when in criminal hands is used for dishonest and violent purposes.
- Justice Robert Pearce
Mr Ransom said Walker had a friend with a Glock pistol for sale, and had put him in touch with Paul James Abraham, who negotiated to sell it to a man in Victoria.
The seller said he wanted $10,000 for the Glock, an extended magazine and ammunition, but after negotiation, the price was cut to $9000, which Abraham paid off in instalments.
In June 2016, the police seized a Mazda MX-6 sedan, which Abraham had booked on the ferry to Melbourne, and removed the pistol and ammunition from the front passenger door.
Mr Ransom contended that Walker had caused the firearm to be sold, and was one of a chain of four men - the unnamed owner, Walker, Abraham and the potential buyer.
On Monday, Abraham, 35, was sentenced after pleading guilty to a charge of trafficking a firearm.
Justice Pearce sentenced him to eight months in prison, wholly suspended with a two-year good behaviour period, plus 140 hours of community service.
He said Abraham had acted for no profit, and had been motivated by the opportunity to foster relationships.
“Transport of the gun made clear the commercial nature of the sale,” Justice Pearce said.
Leah McBey
As a southern New Zealander I love island life. So Tassie was an obvious choice after living in North America, Europe and the Pacific Islands. I've done a bit of everything but communication is the motif threading through my life.
As a southern New Zealander I love island life. So Tassie was an obvious choice after living in North America, Europe and the Pacific Islands. I've done a bit of everything but communication is the motif threading through my life.
