A former pest-controller has been jailed for possessing three stolen guns and for slashing an associate’s head with a machete in Mulgrave.
Timothy Paul, 35, pleaded guilty at the Victorian County Court to possessing a traffickable amount of firearms and recklessly causing injury.
A judge noted Paul had intended to sell off the guns on the ‘black market’, creating an “obvious” risk to the public.
At the time of the offences, he had been released from jail just two months earlier. He was living in a shed at the home of one of the co-accused men, Diesel Handley.
In October 2022, three other men burgled a Drouin home, stealing silver bullion as well as a World War II antique rifle with bayonet, a Sturm Ruger .300 Winchester rifle and a Stirling Model 14 .22 Rimfire rifle.
They contacted Paul with a view to sell the guns and split the proceeds.
In sentencing on 31 July, judge Kevin Doyle noted Paul quickly located a prospective buyer of the antique Enfield MK3 .303 rifle for $3500.
He’d messaged another buyer to also drop by. But Paul cancelled when police arrived at the home, making a routine bail check on Handley.
The group escaped by jumping a fence.
A co-accused later sold the other two guns – one of which was used in an “incident” in Warragul in 2023, the other has not been recovered.
Later that day, Paul accused one of the Drouin burglars of stealing $2500 from the Mulgrave house.
Armed with a machete, Paul enlisted Handley with a truncheon to help in the interrogation in the home’s shed.
They “behaved like gangsters” with Paul taking the lead, Judge Doyle said.
Paul lashed out with the machete. Despite ducking, the victim was slashed to the back of his head.
Paul threatened he’d be killed if he didn’t say what happened to the cash. Handley struck the victim to the mouth with the truncheon.
The victim was later taken to Dandenong Hospital, and made admissions against Paul, Handley and co-accused Drouin burglar Joseph Eydems.
The man made an undertaking to give evidence at trial against the trio.
As a result, he received a discounted sentence of a community corrections order for the burglary at the Drouin home – which was his uncle’s residence.
Paul had grown up being schooled in Eumemmerring, and started working in retail at 14.
Judge Doyle noted he later operated his own pest-control business until his drug addiction escalated.
Blighted by depression, he was prone to relapses after the tragic death of loved ones, including his best friend and the mother of his child.
Judge Doyle said this played a role in Paul’s offending – but not as significant as his immersion in drugs and criminal conduct over six years and two other jail terms.
His priors included trafficking meth, GHB and most relevantly possessing a traffickable amount of firearms.
Having spent most of the past four years in jail, Paul was at risk of being “institutionalized”, the judge noted.
His rehabilitation prospects were no more than “guarded”.
Paul was jailed for 28 months, with a non-parole period of 18 months.
His term includes 343 days in pre-sentence custody.
Handley was jailed for eight months on recklessly causing injury.
