John Beasley: Dubbo weapon collector sentenced after illegal weapons and drugs found on his property
A Dubbo father with a fascination for weapons has been charged and sentenced for multiple offences including possessing a cache of firearms without a licence and drug possession.
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A Dubbo father with a fascination for weapons has been charged and sentenced for multiple offences including possessing a cache of firearms without a licence and drug possession.
John Beasley, 58, appeared in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday after he was arrested following a police search of his property on April 7, 2022.
Documents tendered to Dubbo Local Court reveal that officers were granted a search warrant for Beasley’s home.
Upon entering the house, officers sighted a military style ‘Gel Blaster’ pistol located on the couch.
“The pistol was all black and looked similar in appearance to a ‘Desert Eagle’ pistol,” police facts state.
“The pistol was on top of its original cardboard packaging (and) inside the packaging was a bag of gel projectiles.”
Officers continued their search, locating a second military style ‘Gel Blaster’ pistol in Beasley’s bedroom where they also found a bag containing “an assortment of prohibited weapons”.
Two slingshots, 12 arrow bolts suited to a crossbow, and a taser were found in the bag along with “homemade fireworks” in another “small backpack” underneath the weapons.
In a further search of Beasley’s room, officers located 11 clear resealable plastic bags “containing powder substances and remnants of powder substances”.
“The clear resealable bags with measurable amounts were presumptively tested utilising a ‘TruNarc’ machine, with three of the bags returning a positive result for methamphetamine” court documents reveal.
In the initial testing, the amount totalled 2.27 grams of methamphetamine with further investigations conducted following the search.
Beasley made “full and frank” admissions to police before he was arrested and taken to Dubbo Police Station.
The court heard from Beasley’s lawyer, Matthew Quill that while these were “serious offences”, they lay at the low end of objective seriousness and that Beasley was a collector and had a fascination with weapons.
He continued by saying Beasley had ordered all of the weapons online and was surprised when the crossbow arrived in the mail from New Zealand.
“(Beasley) used to make his own fireworks,” Mr Quill said.
“They were all purchased legally, they had sentimental value and (he) found it hard to get rid of them (when they were illegal).
“He is remorseful about the fact that he was using amphetamines, that small amount had been sitting around for a while.”
Mr Quill appealed to Magistrate Theresa Hamilton requesting that she show leniency to Beasley by dealing with the matter “by the way of a non-conviction”.
In assessing Mr Quill’s submissions, Ms Hamilton noted the early pleas of guilty and accepted that Beasley was “some kind of collector”.
“But obviously as a collector it is his obligation to know what the requirements are,” Ms Hamilton said.
“The maximum penalty for these offences is 14 years.”
Ms Hamilton said Beasley had generally been living a pro-social life, however, she rejected Mr Quill’s request for a non-conviction.
Beasley was convicted and handed a community corrections order for 18 months.
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