Bruce in West Oz
May 27, 2003, 10:56 PM
Daily Telegraph NSW
Fake gun: real drama
By FRANCES O'SHEA 28may03
THE most sinister thing this child's toy gun has been used for is a game
of cowboys and Indians.
But it landed Ronaldo Cabras, 43, in court yesterday after police
insisted it was a prohibited weapon.
Mr Cabras was stopped at 1.25am on December 26 last year by police
random breath testing in the Kooragang Island area near Newcastle.
Police searched his Ford Testar after seeing the butt of a gun
protruding from a pocket behind the front passenger's seat.
Mr Cabras told police the gun had been left there a week earlier after
he had given a friend a lift home and he had forgotten about it.
After his arrest he told officers it had been left in his car by the
six-year-old son of a friend.
"I found it two days ago behind the passenger seat and I left it there,"
Mr Cabras said at the time.
Despite Mr Cabras' protests that the gun was a little boy's toy he was
arrested and charged with being in possession of a prohibited weapon.
A police forensic expert who later examined the gun found it
"substantially imitates a firearm".
Yesterday Mr Cabras, a phone card salesman and student, from Mayfield
pleaded not guilty to the charge in Newcastle Local Court.
If found guilty he could have been sentenced to a maximum five years
jail and fined up to $10,000.
After submissions from barrister Robert Cavanagh from Newcastle
University's legal centre Magistrate Steve Jackson ruled the gun was a
toy and dismissed the charge.
Mr Cavanagh had told the court for the act to apply the replica must be
that of a firearm and fall within the definition of a firearm.
Police said the ruling sets a disturbing precedent and may appeal: "It
provides an out for anyone running around with one of these guns.
"This replica looked very much like a real gun and I wouldn't want it
pointed at me."
Yesterday Mr Cabras, who has no prior convictions, told The Daily
Telegraph he was relieved the charges had been dropped.
Magistrate Jackson ruled the toy be returned to its owner.
:cuss: :fire: :banghead:
Bruce
Fake gun: real drama
By FRANCES O'SHEA 28may03
THE most sinister thing this child's toy gun has been used for is a game
of cowboys and Indians.
But it landed Ronaldo Cabras, 43, in court yesterday after police
insisted it was a prohibited weapon.
Mr Cabras was stopped at 1.25am on December 26 last year by police
random breath testing in the Kooragang Island area near Newcastle.
Police searched his Ford Testar after seeing the butt of a gun
protruding from a pocket behind the front passenger's seat.
Mr Cabras told police the gun had been left there a week earlier after
he had given a friend a lift home and he had forgotten about it.
After his arrest he told officers it had been left in his car by the
six-year-old son of a friend.
"I found it two days ago behind the passenger seat and I left it there,"
Mr Cabras said at the time.
Despite Mr Cabras' protests that the gun was a little boy's toy he was
arrested and charged with being in possession of a prohibited weapon.
A police forensic expert who later examined the gun found it
"substantially imitates a firearm".
Yesterday Mr Cabras, a phone card salesman and student, from Mayfield
pleaded not guilty to the charge in Newcastle Local Court.
If found guilty he could have been sentenced to a maximum five years
jail and fined up to $10,000.
After submissions from barrister Robert Cavanagh from Newcastle
University's legal centre Magistrate Steve Jackson ruled the gun was a
toy and dismissed the charge.
Mr Cavanagh had told the court for the act to apply the replica must be
that of a firearm and fall within the definition of a firearm.
Police said the ruling sets a disturbing precedent and may appeal: "It
provides an out for anyone running around with one of these guns.
"This replica looked very much like a real gun and I wouldn't want it
pointed at me."
Yesterday Mr Cabras, who has no prior convictions, told The Daily
Telegraph he was relieved the charges had been dropped.
Magistrate Jackson ruled the toy be returned to its owner.
:cuss: :fire: :banghead:
Bruce