Lara man Wesley Large gets year in jail for gun ‘obsession’

Just months after facing court for gun possession, a Lara man was busted by a police taskforce with a van full of them.

A Lara man who has an “obsession with firearms” has been locked up for a year after being found with a number of guns.

Wesley Large faced the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to around 20 charges, including possessing firearms while he was a prohibited person, burglary and driving offences.

Large was also sentenced on Tuesday to separate firearm charges after he was found guilty of possession in April this year.

In July 2022, investigators from the Viper taskforce searched Large’s Lara home and found a number of firearms, including a pistol with a magazine and a black revolver handgun.

Wesley Large will spend the next year behind bars for firearm offences. Picture: Facebook.

Investigators evacuated the house after finding unnamed chemicals used in the manufacturing of drugs of dependence. It is understood Large was not facing charges related to the chemicals.

Police prosecutor Siobhan Daly told the court Large “evaded police” by trying to leave in a “van full of guns”.

Large was found guilty in April of being in possession of a revolver, diamondback firearm, a sawn-off shotgun, handgun and ammunition.

The court was told some of the firearms were imitation but had the ability to be discharged by investigators once loaded.

At the time, Large was placed on a deferral of sentence but went on to commit the more recent firearm offences three months later.

The court also heard Large broke into a home in Darley in June 2019 and stole a 1973 Holden Premier worth $50,000.

He was later intercepted by police in the car and returned a positive drug test for methylamphetamine.

A search of his home in September 2019 also turned up a stolen motorbike and car, and a ziplock bag with a “little bit of ice”.

Defence lawyer Sarah Pratt said the offending was “unsophisticated”.

Ms Pratt asked the court to consider placing Large on a community corrections order with an electrical monitoring bracelet.

However, given Large has breached the orders in the past, Magistrate John Bentley said the request was “out of the ballpark”.

“My concern is time and time again he is found with guns in his possession. Imitation firearms and firearms that actually work.

“That is a concern to the community … we all hear about drive-by shootings …(and) gun violence in our community,” Mr Bentley said.

“What concerns me is your client’s obsession with firearms”.

Ms Daly said she has “not come across an accused who has this much involvement in firearms” and asked for a jail sentence.

“He simply doesn’t care or shows no regard that he is the subject of a firearm prohibition order,” Ms Daly said.

Large was sentenced to a 12 month jail sentence.

He was also convicted and discharged for drug driving and has lost his licence for 16 months.

Originally published as Lara man Wesley Large gets year in jail for gun ‘obsession’