Steven Mauldon jailed over homemade bombs, drug trafficking
A drug trafficker who kept bombs in his mother’s North Shore shed chillingly told his ex-girlfriend one of the devices was planned for something, and she would “see what happens”.
A drug trafficker who had improvised bombs full of “homemade napalm” in his mum’s shed has been jailed.
Steven Mauldon, 35, was jailed for eight years by Judge Gavan Meredith in the County Court on Friday, having pleaded guilty to a litany of charges including two counts of knowingly possessing an explosive substance, drug trafficking and possessing a firearm as a prohibited person.
Judge Meredith set a non-parole period of six years, and Mauldon had 238 days reckoned as time already served.
Mauldon was arrested by specialist police in dramatic scenes that shut down Collins St in Melbourne’s CBD in June last year.
The arrest came weeks after Mauldon had texted his ex-girlfriend about homemade improvised explosive devices – paint tins full of a concoction the prosecution likened to “homemade napalm”.
Mauldon sent the woman photos of the two bombs, one captioned “boom boom” and the other “number 2”.
The chilling exchange was read aloud by crown prosecutor Dr Jason Harkness, at Mauldon’s plea hearing.
Mauldon told his ex: “each one can legit bring down a whole apartment building”.
“Wow c —t, what the f —k hahaha,” she replied.
“Lmao, well don’t f —k me over again,” Mauldon said.
“Lmao you’re a banana, be safe and be good.”
Mauldon would add that “one is already planned for something” and “you’ll see what happens, trust me”.
“Will I though, or will I be dead?” his ex said.
At the time of the messages, Mauldon’s phone was connected to a cell tower 900m from his mother’s North Shore address.
Surveillance operatives watched Mauldon before he was arrested by officers from the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) after visiting a bank on Collins St.
At the scene, he was asked by an officer: “are you sure there is nothing you want to say about the buckets?”
Mauldon was found with about $15,000 cash, which he said he’d just withdrawn as he was buying a new car.
A gun and drugs were also found in his vehicle.
But the bombs police were searching for were found inside a suitcase his mother’s shed in Geelong.
During an examination of his phone, officers found messages Mauldon sent an associate with the moniker Cyrus the Virus on encrypted messaging app Threema, in which he said:
“Knowing what this suitcase can do actually has me uncomfortable for the first time in my life #AllahuAkbar”.
Officers also found messages on Signal, another encrypted messaging service.
At his plea hearing, Mauldon’s lawyer, Liliana Dubroja submitted Mauldon’s drug trafficking operation was a one-man, street-level operation but conceded it was a “more serious example”.
“It’s not an example where he’s selling points of $50 amounts or things of that nature. The text messages do indicate sales in the high hundreds and low thousands,” Ms Dubroja said.
Ms Dubroja noted the charges over the bombs resolved “on the basis of possession” because there was “no evidence of an actual plan” other than the text.
Asked if an explanation for the bombs would be forthcoming, Ms Dubroja said she would be making no submission.
Originally published as Steven Mauldon jailed over homemade bombs, drug trafficking
