Steven Matthew Gibbs admits to gun theft to fund ice addiction

Text messages intercepted by police reveal a shopping list of guns and ammo a man stole from rural sheds and sold on to help fund his drug habit.

A man has admitted to stealing guns and ammunition around the Goulburn area to fund his drug addiction which spiralled out of control after a traumatic upbringing.

Steven Matthew Gibbs, 27, faced Goulburn Local Court via video link on Wednesday after pleading guilty to aggravated break and enter in company, possessing a firearm, acquiring a firearm without permit, custody of a knife, intimidation, and three counts of driving while disqualified.

According to court documents, on July 27, the Goulburn man was captured on CCTV footage entering the backyard of a home in Young with another man. One of them disabled the camera, and the owner came home later that day to find his shed had been broken into and several items missing, including a firearms safe. The safe contained two rifles, two shotguns, three rifle scopes, and a massive 240 rounds of ammunition.

According to the court documents, in August, after Gibbs’s co-accused was arrested, police tapped his phone to see where the guns had gone. One of the texts from Gibbs to the co-accused read: “Your 1 (sic) is semiautomatic”.

Other texts were similarly incriminating, with one potential buyer writing: “I’m keen to grasp something that bangs lol (sic)” and another just demanding: “Sell me one”.

The day after the shed heist at around 8.30am, Gibbs left the Harden Motel where he was staying and was stopped by police for a drug test. He admitted to being a disqualified driver and tested positive for traces of cannabis and methamphetamine. Police searched his car and found a 30cm long wooden handled knife, a bag containing 40 shotgun rounds, 65 rounds for a .22 calibre, and a bag of cannabis, the court documents state.

Magistrate Geraldine Beattie said she was amazed by Gibbs’s brazenness.

“Having committed that (theft) offence the day before, there you are driving with the items in the car,” she said.

Gibbs also tested positive for cannabis and meth during a random breath test on July 7.

Steven Gibbs appeared at Goulburn courthouse on Wednesday via video link.

The court heard Gibbs had a difficult upbringing with an abusive alcoholic father, and turned to drugs during his time at Goulburn High. According to Gibbs’s lawyer, that drug use escalated even further after a serious internal surgery on his bowels.

“His drug use spiralled out of control,” he said.

“He concedes he committed offences to continue funding that addiction.”

His lawyer said Gibbs has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and had time spent in the criminal system.

“He‘s clearly someone who’s had significant difficulties since childhood and that’s seen in his criminal history,” he said.

However, the court heard Gibbs is attending weekly drug counselling sessions and hoped to study again to get a steady job and provide for his family.

Magistrate Beattie noted the “large list of offences” committed by Gibbs and his criminal history, which includes imprisonment for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

“Significantly, among the items you’re stealing are the firearms which, through you, are then able to get into the hands of people in the community,” she said.

Consequently, Magistrate Beattie determined a full time custodial sentence could be the only possible penalty.

Gibbs was sentenced to an aggregate term of three years with two years non-parole.