Charbel Douna: Magistrate considers ‘pub test’ in gender reveal stunt sentence

The magistrate who sentenced NRL superstar Latrell Mitchell for firearms charges on a camping trip, has presided over the case of an Illawarra property developer who fired a rifle at a balloon held by his pregnant wife.

An Illawarra property developer showed off his pearly whites as he strode out of Wollongong Local Court on Thursday after getting off scot-free for firearms charges linked to a gender reveal stunt.

Charbel Douna, 35, pleaded guilty to the possession of an unauthorised firearm, firing a firearm in a manner likely to injure/damage persons/property and two counts of being in unauthorised possession of an approved gaming machine.

The incident occurred in May, 2019, when at his Calderwood property in the Illawarra, Douna fired a .22 Calibre bolt action rifle at a balloon held on a string by his pregnant wife.

The balloon burst with a pink substance falling to the ground “revealing” they were to have a baby girl.

In court on Thursday, police prosecutor Sergeant Ben Bragger declared the matter couldn‘t be “described as trivial”.

Charbel Douna leaving Wollongong Courthouse on Thursday. Picture: Dylan Arvela

“It’s an irresponsible use of a firearm,” he said.

“We can’t tolerate that your Honour. This is not Texas.

“They should be thinking about what the consequence should be instead of what the gender of their baby might be. What if it hit a kangaroo or koala, do we just not care?”

Defence lawyer Peter Lang opted to show a video of the incident which was shared on Douna’s wife’s Instagram page to highlight his client wasn’t showing a disregard for the woman’s safety with the rifle pointed in the air.

A screenshot from the video posted on Douna's wife's Instagram page. Picture: Instagram

Magistrate Claire Girotto drew parallels with a similar case involving Rabbitohs fullback Latrell Mitchell and Bulldogs flyer Josh Addo-Carr which she presided over in 2020 at Taree Local Court.

Addo-Carr had fired a Mitchell’s shotgun at some targets while on a camping trip at a private property on the NSW Mid North Coast in April of that year.

Mitchell pleaded guilty to giving a firearm to a person not authorised by a licence or permit.

Magistrate Girotto sentenced Mitchell to a 12-month conditional release order without conviction, which was the same verdict she reached on Thursday with Douna.

Rugby league stars Josh Addo-Carr (left) and Latrell Mitchell. Picture: David Swift

“A term often used in the media is to consider the pub test,” the magistrate said.

“Would the community expect him to be convicted? I don’t think they would.”

Douna, who had held a firearms licence for nine years prior to the incident, will be unable to obtain one until 2029.

As for the gaming machine offences, they related to two poker machines kept in his private gaming room.

“It’s like owning a fake roulette table,” Magistrate Girotto said.

“I accept he didn’t know it was illegal. The mistake was genuine [the charges] are dismissed.”