A man convicted for his role in stealing 14 firearms from a property in Blackstone Heights had his appeal grounds variously described as a "storm in a teacup" by a Supreme Court judge this week.
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Matthew John Davey, 37, and David John Eaton, 34, appealed their convictions in the Supreme Court, both claiming miscarriages of justice had occurred during the trial last year.
Along with co-offender Daniel Cure, 32, the three men made three attempts to break into the property on Blackstone Heights Road between January 24 and 25, 2016, knowing that the occupants were away.
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The first attempt was called off when they attracted the police attention. On the second attempt, Davey directed the other two by phone but they could not cut their way into a gun safe.
Davey joined them for the third attempt, and they managed to steal jewellery and 14 firearms.
The firearms were "disposed of by unknown means" but two were recovered, linking police to the men.
A jury found the three men guilty of the charge of stealing. Davey was sentenced to two and a half years' jail, with a judge noting "it was his plan, and he was in charge of it".
Eaton and Cure were described as "active participants" assisting Davey in the premeditated crime. They were both sentenced to nine-month home detention orders with 18-month community corrections orders.
In his appeal, Davey argued he should have been tried separately, that a jury member should have been discharged for riding the same bus as Eaton, that another jury member should have been discharged for having trouble sleeping at night and that various witnesses should have been called. The full bench of the Supreme Court dismissed each ground of appeal, with Chief Justice Alan Blow describing two of these as a "storm in a teacup".
Eaton's ground for appeal included that the jury heard evidence that only related to Davey, but that evidence made reference to Cure, and that there may have been confusion over voice evidence from the phone calls between the men. These were also dismissed.