A Border man will remain behind bars after being extradited to Victoria and denied bail just days after being released on parole from a New South Wales prison. The 27-year-old faced Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court from the custody dock seeking bail on Monday. He had made parole on 16 July, serving two years of a four-year NSW sentence after he caused a collision in Thurgoona while attempting to flee police. His vehicle collided with a car containing a mother and her young child and a sawn-off shotgun was found near his damaged car. The accused was brought to Victoria on a court order and put back in jail after release facing charges of drug trafficking and possessing multiple stolen firearms from the Myrtleford and Whorouly areas. The court heard on the night of 2 February 2024 the accused allegedly broke into a Whorouly property and stole six longarm firearms from a safe while the firearm owner’s mother was at the home 10 metres away. It’s alleged the accused had become aware of the firearms through the brother-in-law of the victim and mobile phone tower data placed his phone in the Myrtleford region at the time. Later that month police patrolling the Wodonga area approached the accused near a parked Holden sedan. It’s alleged the accused tried to start the car before escaping on foot. In the car, officers allegedly found four of the firearms stolen from Whorouly along with two others, three of which were loaded. It’s alleged 4.33g of heroin, a taser and stolen number plates were also in the car. The court also heard sometime between 31 December 2023 and 5 January 2024, a $110,000 Toyota Landcruiser was allegedly stolen from MWD Tree Services along with numerous power tools, chainsaws and vehicle registration plates. On 9 February that year police were conducting a search at a Bairnsdale home when they located the stolen Landcruiser in the backyard. It’s alleged police found a handwritten receipt signed by both the buyer of the car and the accused, for the sale of the Landcruiser for $25,000. The court heard the man had also stolen fuel from service stations in Wodonga and Myrtleford. Detective Senior Constable Aidan Hogan said the man was an unacceptable risk to be living in the community, with two of the stolen firearms from Whorouly still unaccounted for. “Police are extremely concerned those guns are still out there in the community,” he said. “In my mind orders don’t matter to him and he’ll do whatever it takes to avoid custody.” The owner of the firearms stored in Whorouly submitted a statement to police which was briefly read out in court. “My mind is going one million miles a minute…. I just don’t want anyone to get hurt by firearms,” it read. Defence counsel Nadia David said the police case in both burglaries was weak with little evidence tying the offending to her client. Dr David said much of her client’s past offending was drug fuelled and he was keen to engage with rehabilitation services and to see his father who had been placed into palliative care. Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Stuart Pritchard said he acknowledged the triable issues of the police case, but the equation was simple. “Drugs plus guns equals jail,” he said. “Best case scenario if he’s released we lose evidence (the two firearms), worst case they are sold or used for nefarious reasons.” Magistrate Heather Lambrick denied bail, saying the views of the burglary theft victim were the worries of everyone. “I’m just not satisfied the risk is able to be mitigated at this point in time,” she said. “These are extremely serious allegations of very serious offending, there is multiple firearms in his possession, some of which are loaded. “Drugs and guns regularly lead to a term of imprisonment.” He will return to Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on 15 October for a committal mention.
