Rohan Wakefield jailed for storing weapons and drugs uncovered in Operation Ironside police sting

One of the first people arrested in SA as part of the groundbreaking Operation Ironside has learned his fate.

Down on his luck, Rohan Wakefield agreed to store weapons and drugs and act as a courier for a criminal organisation.

He left an unstable job at a city bar, lost motivation and began to struggle financially until he met with two unnamed men and “accepted an offer to assist people involved in illegitimate activity”.

About eight months later, on January 12, 2020, Operation Ironside police appeared at his Newton home. During a search later the same day the found a modified self-loading pistol, sawn-off shot gun, silencer and live ammunition in an Esky hidden in a plant pot at the rear of his ute.

They also found a shopping bag filled with bullets secreted inside his roof and traces of methamphetamine on gloves in his bin and in his sink – which he had been given permission from superiors to dispose.

Operation Ironside offender Rohan Wakefield has been jailed. Picture: Facebook.

In sentencing in the Supreme Court on Thursday, Justice Adam Kimber said Wakefield, 35, had sought that permission via the AN0M application – a subscription-based encrypted communication service being secretly monitored by law enforcement agencies. His usernames on the platform were “Hot Dicky” and “Mobster”.

“You communicated with persons on behalf of whom you were storing the utility about whether it might be relocated, or its contents concealed,” Justice Kimber said.

He said Wakefield knew he was working on behalf of a criminal organisation, and had a role which “extended beyond storing illicit items” at his unit and included “adulterating drugs to increase the yield of the drugs” and as a courier.

“You knew the firearms were for criminal activity. You may not have known precisely what activity,” he said.

“You accepted money from the organisation in exchange for tasks performed and you expected to profit substantially.”

Justice Kimber said Wakefield ultimately did not receive the reward he expected and was “left in debt”.

“While you occupied a position at the bottom of the hierarchy of the organisation, you actively sought work from a senior member of the organisation, expressed gratitude for the opportunities extended and regret when your arrest curtailed your ability to continue to work for the organisation.”

He said despite being at the bottom rung of the organisation, Wakefield and his home “were vital ingredients in the trafficking of methamphetamine and the storage of firearms”.

Police confiscated the ute and conducted a more thorough search which revealed two hidden compartments in the wall separating the cabin from the ute’s rear tray containing more firearms and ammunition.

Justice Kimber said Wakefield was not to be sentenced for that discovery, because he was unaware they were there, as revealed in AN0M messages.

“I really wish I’d been informed that the ute had half of Australia’s weaponry inside it, I may have been less keen to store it along with the drugs,” he texted shortly after his release on bail.

He had pleaded guilty to five offences including possessing firearms without a licence, possessing ammunition and a sound moderator without approval as well as a charge of trafficking in a controlled drug.

At an earlier hearing, Wakefield apologised to the court and his family for his offending, explaining that he was struggling with finances and his mental health at the time.

Justice Kimber said he was a “young man with potential” despite his offending and had been a “highly value employee” in construction while on bail.

After discounts for his plea, time served and spent on home detention bail, he jailed Wakefield for almost six years and nine months, with a non-parole period of three years and seven months.

“Conduct which knowingly supports ongoing organised criminal activity will be treated seriously,” he said.