Tweed Heads man Ashley Hulse sentenced for having gel blaster guns

A man caught on three separate occasions with banned weapons has been told it doesn’t matter how much he enjoys using them, he needs to take them where they are legal.

Ashley Sinclair Hulse, 28, from Tweed Heads, has received an intensive corrections order for offences relating to his repeated possession of gel blaster style guns. Police raided his home on three occasions in 2020. He was sentenced on November 4, 2021.

A North Coast man who was repeatedly caught with illegal gel blasters at his home has been sentenced.

Ashley Sinclair Hulse, 28, faced Lismore District Court by video link from Parklea Correctional Centre on Thursday.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing more than three unregistered firearms.

The court heard police found “numerous” gel blaster firearms when they raided Hulse’s Tweed Heads home on May 13, June 12 and September 4 last year.

The court heard when released from custody, Hulse planned to live in the Forster region on the Mid North Coast once released.

One of the gel blasters found at Hulse’s Tweed Heads home.

Many were in the likeness of Glocks while at least one “substantially replicated in appearance a military firearm”, the court heard.

Gel blasters are allowed in Queensland and Hulse said he was involved in the sport in that state and was repairing the guns for a profit.

But in NSW, they are classed as a weapon and he held no licence to permit his possession of them.

Defence lawyer Philip Crick asked for an intensive corrections order to be imposed, rather than full time custody.

He said his client’s time being held on remand at Parklea Correctional Centre was particularly onerous.

“Covid did enter the jail system at Parklea and inmates were put in forced lockdown for periods of time while that was in the jail there,” Mr Crick said.

Police said they found numerous gel blaster guns in the likeness of a range of types of firearm.

The court heard Hulse had also been assaulted during his time in custody.

He also submitted Hulse’s offending was at the lower end of behaviour that also encompassed crimes involving guns capable of firing live ammunition.

Crown prosecutor Gabrielle Cornett said the “repetitive and ongoing nature of the offending” must be taken into account.

Judge Warwick Hunt gave Hulse, who had been in custody since September last year, an intensive corrections order until November 4, 2024.

He issued Hulse with a stern warning and said he hoped he could move on from his offending.

“If you haven’t got the message now you’re never going to get it,” Judge Hunt said.

“I don’t care how good you are at repairing them or how much fun it is to compete with them … only do those things where it’s legal.”

The court heard there was nothing to suggest Hulse used the gel blasters for any criminal activity outside of simply possessing them.