Wayne Mack jailed for weapons, cannabis stashes
A highly paranoid man under the watch of police investigating people at risk of carrying out extreme violence smoked pot to deal with the stress of his highly-powered guns and ammo stashed all over a rural property.
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A former TAFE teacher jailed for stashing firearms and cannabis throughout his rural NSW home was being investigated by detectives from the state’s fixated persons unit which monitors people at risk of exposure to extremist material.
Court documents reveal the officer in charge of the case against Wayne Raymond Mack, from Bocoble, 38 kilometres east of Mudgee, was a member of the unit established in 2017 to focus on marginalised people who could be at risk of committing violent acts.
In April 2018, police who stopped Mack, 54, on the Castlereagh Highway near Mudgee discovered 28.2 grams of cannabis in an Esky on the back seat of his vehicle.
After weapons and firearms prohibition orders had been served on Mack, police conducted a search of his family farm on Bunbury Road which turned up eight firearms and two imitation firearms.
Police found an automatic self-loading rifle in one bedroom, a double-barrel shotgun in a wardrobe and a shortened firearm in another bedroom.
A pump action repeating shotgun was retrieved inside a white sealed tube inside the carport, along with another self loading rifle.
Inside a shed roof, police discovered shortened pump action rifle. Another shortened rifle was found in the wall of the shed.
Mack also stashed a metal handgun in another bedroom and a double barrel rifle under a workbench in the shed.
Police also found 38 cannabis plants growing in Mack’s garage. Freezers in the laundry and lounge room were contained cannabis seeds and resealable bags with various amounts of cannabis leaf inside.
In court, Mack pleaded guilty to one count of supplying 7.65 kilograms of cannabis and three counts of possessing more than three prohibited firearms.
He also pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing unauthorised firearms.
Dubbo District Court Judge Nanette Williams said Mack, who was a former teacher at Mudgee TAFE and boilermaker, had served time behind bars previously for similar offences.
Judge Williams said Mack claimed the firearms police found in April 2018 had remained on the farm during his previous jail stint.
“He did not know what to do with these firearms for fear of further charges so smoked cannabis to deal with his worries,” she told the court.
“He said he never took the firearms off the property.”
Judge Williams said Mack started smoking cannabis to help him calm down as a teenager and claimed he only sold cannabis to a friend.
“He insisted it was not about making money,” she said.
The court heard experts had concluded Mack was a “fearful and suspicious” person who was “acutely paranoid.”
Mack believed the NSW Crime Commission was harassing him for $100,000 he allegedly owed after he was previously released from jail, Judge Williams said.
“The offender has been distressed by his wife possibly selling his possessions,” she told the court.
Mack’s marriage had broken down and conditions in jails were more onerous because of COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, Judge Williams noted as she made a finding of special circumstances in Mack’s case.
“I’m of the view the guns posed a risk to public safety,” she said.
“I acknowledge the plea of guilty and find that the offender is remorseful for his actions.”
Judge Williams sentenced Mack to eight years in jail, with a non-parole period of four years and nine months.
After the sentence was handed down Mack, who appeared in court via audiovisual link from the Broken Hill Correctional Centre, put his hands over his face and wept.
With time already served taken into account, Mack will be eligible for parole in January 2023.