A George Town man stole six firearms from his mother's partner when they went to the Evandale Market, the Supreme Court heard.
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Michael Rodney Smith, 24, pleaded guilty to burglary and stealing firearms on August 26, 2018 and a count of trafficking in firearms.
The long-time drug addict, who was on bail at the time, went through an unlocked garage roller door and used a drill to remove the core of locks on a gun safe.
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He later told police that he wanted a weapon for self protection because he had recently been assaulted and shot at.
He stole six firearms but his partner returned three of them within hours.
On August 30, police were attempting to intercept Smith when he threw a Winchester .22 rifle out the driver's side window of the car he was driving onto the road.
In a subsequent video interview he told police he had sold two firearms for $300-400.
However, the next month he told police he had hidden the weapons near a mining tunnel in bushland near Lefroy, east of George Town.
"Police did an extensive search but did not locate any weapons," Crown prosecutor Emily Judd said.
The court heard that a Remington .22 rifle had been recovered in a residential storage shed but that a Dumoulin 12-gauge shotgun was unaccounted for.
The court heard that Smith was the subject of a drug treatment order in lieu of a 18-month jail sentence.
"Despite the drug treatment order he has continued to offend," Ms Judd said.
She read to the court a raft of charges to which Smith was yet to plead in the Magistrates Court.
Defence counsel Hannah Phillips said that she had not been notified of an intention by the Court Mandated Drug Diversion program to seek that Smith serve the 18 month sentence in jail.
She said Smith had an IQ of 44-55 which put him in the lowest percentile of the population.
Ms Phillips submitted to Justice Robert Pearce that sentencing should be adjourned until the outcome of the drug treatment order review was known.
"If the drug treatment order is cancelled the basis of my sentencing would be entirely different," Justice Pearce said.
He remanded Smith in custody and adjourned sentencing until June 10 at 4.15pm.
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