A HORSHAM man will face Melbourne County Court after he was charged with multiple firearm and theft offences.
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Jade Warrick, 36, appeared at Horsham Magistrates' Court on June 13 for a committal hearing and pleaded not guilty to 12 charges.
His charges are:
- Retention of stolen goods;
- Three counts of dishonestly and assisting with disposal of stolen goods;
- Possessing an unregistered high category firearm;
- Possessing an unregistered handgun;
- Prohibited person using a firearm without licence;
- Possessing more than three unregistered firearms;
- Possessing an unregistered category E firearm;
- Failure to store firearms correctly;
- Burglary; and
- Theft of firearm/s.
Police allege Mr Warrick stole two safes containing antique "western style" firearms from Horsham defence lawyer Nick Graham's house in March 2017.
Mr Graham told the court he didn't have a working alarm system at the time of the theft.
"I did not make an insurance claim because the guns were not stored properly in accordance to my licence," he said.
The court heard there had been no forced entry to Mr Graham's property.
Witness Bill Higgins, of Goroke, told the court he had paid $700 to a man named Tyler for a .36 calibre black powder pistol in 2017.
"Tyler didn't say where the gun came from," Mr Higgins said.
Witness Tyler Turnbull, of Drung, told the court that Mr Higgins had talked to him about wanting a .36 calibre black powder pistol while at the Horsham Pistol Club.
Mr Turnbull told the court he gave $500 he received from Mr Higgins to Mr Warrick.
"At the time I believe the deal had nothing to do with me. I accept now that I was wrong," Mr Turnbull said.
Mr Turnbull told the court he had met Mr Graham at the Horsham Pistol Club, but did not know what models of guns he owned.
The court heard that Mr Turnbull had told police that he had bought two guns, worth $2000 each, from Mr Warrick and assumed the guns were from Mr Graham.
"I heard a story from within the Horsham gun community that they had been stolen," Mr Turnbull said.
Informant Detective Senior Constable Neale Roberts of Horsham said Mr Graham had made it clear he suspected Mr Warrick took the safes "from the outset".
The court heard stumps were removed from one section of Mr Graham's house, which would make it easy to see where safe bolts were through the floor.
"The way the safes were set up was very poor and it would have not been difficult to unscrew the nuts on the bolts to get into the house," Detective Senior Constable Roberts said.
The court heard that no DNA evidence was found at the crime scene and that the theft was reported on March 3, 2017.
Mr Warrick's defence lawyer Bruce Nibbs argued that police had singled Mr Warrick out as a suspect.
"Anyone who was at (the Horsham Pistol Club) with Mr Graham would know that he had these kind of guns," he said.
Detective Senior Constable Roberts said police had looked into other suspects later suggested by Mr Graham.
"My mind was open as to who committed the crime; Mr Graham was the one who nominated Mr Warrick," he said.
The court heard police had conducted five search warrants at three different properties, including two owned by Mr Warrick.
Mr Warrick will next appear at Melbourne County Court on July 4 via videolink from Horsham.
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