Salisbury East man Mark Michael Mullett sentenced for bringing guns inside Darwin Airport
An Adelaide man has been sentenced after bringing two loaded guns through an airport after mailing them, piece by piece, across the country.
Police & Courts
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An Adelaide man has been spared jail time after bringing loaded 3D-printed firearms through the Darwin airport on his way home after test-firing them.
Mark Michael Mullett, of Salisbury East, arrived at the Darwin Airport on August 17, 2024, carrying a backpack and two suitcases.
Inside one suitcase was a brown 3D-printed EZ22-model firearm loaded with a magazine containing three rounds of .22 calibre ammunition and a black 3D‑printed Yeet22-model firearm located with a magazine with 13 rounds of ammunition.
Security staff at the airport also located two 3D-printed noise suppressors and seven empty 3D-printed magazines.
During sentencing in May, Judge Liesl Kudelka said the 42-year-old had been manufacturing the firearms inside his suburban shed for a year, and the guns were capable of fire.
“You said they were of poor quality and rarely worked, but were capable of firing live rounds,” Judge Kudelka said.
“You found the designs for the firearms online.”
The court heard Mullett had sent the guns to Darwin in pieces, with the intention to take them out bush near Katherine to test-fire them.
Mullett had been travelling to the Northern Territory to complete studying.
During check-in at the Darwin Airport, security officers located an ammunition round inside Mullett’s backpack, and searched his suitcases – discovering the weapons.
The guns were seized by Australian Federal Police officers, and he was allowed to fly home.
He was arrested the next day by AFP and SAPOL officers, who also searched his Salisbury East home.
Two additional firearms were located, along with three 3D printers, multiple boxes of 3D printer filament, assorted 3D-printed firearm parts, tools and equipment for manufacturing firearms and ammunition.
Mullett pleaded guilty to the Commonwealth offence of one count of possessing a weapon in an airside area, landside security zone or landside event zone.
The maximum penalty for the offence is seven years imprisonment or a penalty of $131,460.
However, Judge Kudelka said prosecutors had permitted the matter be dealt with as a summary offence, meaning the maximum penalties possible were two years jail’ and/or a $37,560 fine.
Judge Kudelka said Australia’s strict firearm laws were in place for “good reason”.
“The community does not want dangerous weapons to be transported through a secure area unchecked, that is, without declaration,” Her Honour said.
Her Honour remarked the offending was “out of character”.
Judge Kudelka sentenced Mullett to five months’ jail, suspended on a two-year good behaviour recognisance release order.
An order was made to forfeit all the guns and paraphernalia located.
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