Shaun Hutchinson sentenced over firearm scheme

A Corio man caught up in a plot to traffic firearms to clear his drug debt has been jailed.

Corio man Shaun Hutchinson: Facebook.

A Corio man caught up in a plot to traffic firearms in a bid to clear his drug debt has been jailed.

Shaun Hutchinson, 37, was sentenced in the Geelong County Court on Friday over charges including possessing a trafficable quantity of firearms, handling stolen goods, using a firearm and possessing ammunition.

Hutchinson’s lawyer, Adrian Paull, said his client “made no personal gain” from possessing the firearms and had only become involved in the scheme “because he had a drug debt” he needed cleared.

Judge Frances Hogan said moving firearms in the community carried a great risk.

“They could fall into the hands of people who could use them to harm others,” Judge Hogan said.

Days after associates stole a gun safe full of firearms from a Shepparton house on August 28, 2020, they arrived on Hutchinson’s doorstep with a plan to sell them to other criminals.

Hutchinson met the two men at the front of his home and moved cardboard boxes containing four firearms, including a handgun and a rifle, from a car.

The guns were later moved to his wife’s car and then to a Norlane address before disappearing.

During police questioning in June 2022, Hutchinson said a man involved in the initial burglary of the guns had been in his home and was “asking for $10,000, $15,000 or a bag of methamphetamine” as payment for the handgun and was becoming upset that this had not happened yet.

When police arrested Hutchinson and seized his phone, they found two videos of him discharging a handgun in a Norlane backyard.

One of the videos showed Hutchinson firing a weapon in the air.

Police also found a photograph of Hutchinson on his phone pointing the handgun at the camera.

The court was told Hutchinson had an insecure and traumatic background, “suffered a lack of love and nurturing” and was “exposed to violence committed on others’ ‘ which resulted in an early dependency on the use of illicit drugs.

Hutchinson was convicted and sentenced to 22 months jail, and will be eligible for parole after 14 months. He was also fined $500.

Originally published as Shaun Hutchinson sentenced over firearm scheme