Geelong father pleads guilty to “brazen” burglaries, stealing guns police yet to recover

Henk William McKewan pleaded guilty to a “brazenly persistent” string of offences, including the theft of firearms that have not yet been recovered.

Henk William McKewan was sentenced for a string of burglaries in Geelong. Picture: Facebook

A Geelong West father has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison for offences including stealing multiple firearms, which the court heard have not yet been recovered.

Henk William McKewan, 32, appeared in the dock at County Court at Geelong on Wednesday.

He pleaded guilty to six charges including attempted burglary, theft of a firearm, and intentional damage to property, which occurred over a five-day spree in November 2023.

The court heard McKewan, and his alleged associate Damian Stick, conducted a “brazenly persistent” string of burglaries and attempted burglaries on a single residence on the affluent strip of Eastern Beach Rd in Geelong.

CCTV footage captured McKewan approaching the property, which was in the late stages of a renovation, at 2:24am on November 6, 2023.

McKewan could be seen scaling the walls of the residence and smashing a security camera, but ultimately leaving without stealing from the property.

Four days later on November 10 at about 1:20am, McKewan, a man police allege was Mr Stick, and a third unidentified man broke into the same property, where they stole about “$22K to $23K” worth of goods, including Fox brand motorbike helmets, Alpine Star motorbike helmets, Oakley brand goggles, and various designer clothing items.

The trio left the residence with the items, but returned 45 minutes later to continue fleecing the property.

McKewan and two alleged accomplices once again entered the home, where they broke into a safe and stole three rifles and a shotgun.

Crown prosecutor Jordan Johnston revealed that police had executed a search warrant on McKewan’s home and car the following month, where they found items consistent with those stolen from the Geelong residence, but they did not locate the firearms.

They also searched McKewan’s phone, where on encrypted messaging app Signal they found messages sent from the device the same night of the burglary containing images of the firearms, and an unknown person responding: “would you take cash and gear?”.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Gavan Meredith highlighted that the four firearms had not been recovered, stating “these types of weapons may well be used in the commission of other criminal activity”.

Crown prosecutor Jordan Johnston read the victim impact statement on behalf of the resident’s owner, who did not live in the Eastern Beach Rd premises at the time as they were in the final stages of renovating the home.

The homeowner said he and his wife chose the location as they believed it was “the perfect place to raise our children”, but that the offending “stole my children’s peace of mind” and that they are now “plagued with anxiety”.

He read that the children initially refused to move into the newly renovated home, as they were afraid of “masked criminals … roaming in our home in the dead of night … crawling around under the floor boards”.

Judge Meredith acknowledged that McKewan grew up in a household where he experienced neglect, and read that psychological reports conducted as part of the proceedings found that a diagnosis of PTSD or bipolar disorder were likely.

He also recognised that McKewan’s partner gave birth to their son while he was in custody, and he now had a “motivating factor” to achieve ongoing sobriety.

However he did say he was “cautiously optimistic” about McKewan’s rehabilitation prospects, acknowledging that “this isn’t his first time before the courts”.

In 2020, McKewan received a community corrections after he hit a man in the head with a ceramic mug before chasing him with an axe handle in a robbery attempt after earlier meeting him at a Geelong pokies venue.

Judge Meredith ordered that McKewan be eligible for parole after two years.

McKewan’s alleged associate, Mr Stick, is set to face court for a plea hearing on July 7.

Originally published as Geelong father pleads guilty to “brazen” burglaries, stealing guns police yet to recover