Francesco ‘Frank’ Perre — brother of accused NCA bomber Domenic Perre — claims he forgot about guns stored in a secret compartment

A JUDGE has warned the brother of NCA bombing accused Domenic Perre that the length of his prison term for growing cannabis will hinge on evidence about two guns found secreted inside a wall near the illegal crop.

Francesco Perre leaves the District Court after today’s hearing. Picture: Morgan Sette/AAP

A JUDGE has warned the brother of NCA bombing accused Domenic Perre that the length of his prison term for growing cannabis will hinge on evidence about two guns found secreted inside a wall near the illegal crop.

Francesco “Frank” Perre appeared in the District Court on Monday for submissions on sentence over a hydroponic cannabis crop found at his property at Chaffey in the Riverland.

When police raided the property last year, they uncovered 13kg of dried cannabis, a room designated to grow the crop and a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and a Bruno SLR rifle.

Perre’s lawyer, Craig Caldicott, told the court his client admitted owning the guns, but claimed they had been placed inside the wall behind metal sheeting for about 20 years.

Mr Caldicott said no ammunition was found at the property and the guns were rusty and

that his client had simply “put them in the wall and forgot they were there”.

“It is not the same as a loaded weapon next to a drug crop or a bag of ecstasy or something similar, that is not the situation here,” he said.

Mr Caldicott said the 57-year old grandfather had made the “stupid” decision to grow the cannabis crop when the drought led to the drying up of his income growing grapes in the Riverland.

“He comes from a proud Italian family, he was unable to find work and was reliant upon his wife,” Mr Caldicott said.

“It was the cultural background that caused him to resent the fact that he had to rely upon his wife to survive … and he stupidly decided to grow some cannabis.”

Mr Caldicott said Perre had pleaded guilty to cultivating and trafficking cannabis and illegal possession of firearms at the earliest opportunity and accepted he would be jailed, given his prior convictions for growing the drug.

Prosecutor Emma Roper said Perre’s claims he had forgotten about the guns were fanciful.

“It’s simply not just a coincidence that the firearms were located in such close proximity to the cannabis, particularly on such a large property,” Ms Roper said.

Ms Roper said there was clear evidence that Perre had grown at least three cannabis crops and said there was little scope for lenience given his prior criminal history.

“He has been dealt with for serious cannabis offending, not once, but twice before (and) clearly he has the contacts to sell the cannabis,” she said.

Judge Rauf Soulio said it was “inevitable” that Perre would serve prison time for the offences.

But he said he would need to hear evidence from Perre about the weapons — which he legally acquired when he had a firearms licence in the 1980s — before he could impose sentence.

Judge Soulio said the issue of the guns was an important factor in sentencing for both the cannabis and firearms offending.

Perre was allowed to remain on bail ahead of a disputed facts hearing in July, which will focus on the origin of the guns and whether Perre was aware of their presence.

His brother, Domenic Perre, remains in custody awaiting trial for the murder of Detective Sergeant Geoffrey Bowen and the attempted murder of lawyer Peter Wallis in the National Crime Authority bombing on Waymouth St in March 1994.

In March this year, Francesco Perre described the charges against his brother as “just a witch hunt” as he left the District Court following his guilty pleas to the cannabis and firearms offences.