Ex-cop and game shooting enthusiast Shane Kember jailed over gun supply
An ex-cop with strong hobby for game shooting has been jailed over the supply of a Ruger pistol.
Illawarra Star
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An ex-Wollongong policeman turned racehorse trainer with a “robust hobby of hunting animals” has been jailed for supplying a black market firearm to a friend.
Shane Allan Kember, a game shooting enthusiast whose Facebook page features photos of him posing with dead animals, including boars and a lion, faced sentencing in the District Court on Friday, after pleading guilty to knowingly taking part in the supply or a pistol and possession of a prohibited weapon.
Judge Andrew Haesler sentenced the Kembla Grange father to two years five months jail, with a non-parole period of one year and five months, after he supplied a Ruger pistol to a man who didn’t have a license to possess it.
After Kember disputed the facts related to the first charge, Judge Haesler found that in 2016, Kember facilitated the exchange and transfer of the Ruger, which occurred at his Kembla Grange home, and that a test shot was fired before it was handed over.
The court also heard Kember himself did not have a firearms licence, and that guns found on his property by police belonged, and were registered to, his ex-partner, who had moved out some time earlier.
“There’s no suggestion [the firearms] were used for anything but the hunting of wild animals,” Judge Haesler said.
“There is no justification here for Mr Kember’s involvement in this matter or the arrangements he made to facilitate [the exchange of the Ruger].
“The firearms … are a risk to the public’s safety if obtained unlawfully.”
While searching Kember’s home, police also found various types of ammunition and a homemade silencer, which had been painted in camouflage colours.
Judge Haesler said while the silencer wasn’t dangerous on its own, it had the potential to be so.
While Kember’s defence lawyer told the court his client had anxiety and depression induced by the prospect of going to jail, and that he feared retribution from other inmates due to his former career as a police officer, Judge Haesler said jail time was necessary.
“What the offender did was a serious breach of the firearms act,” he said.
“His actions allowed him to have access and to possess illegal firearms he wasn’t entitled to possess.”
Kember will be eligible for release to parole in July next year.