Former councillor Reece Comber pleads guilty to truck holdup

A Minnamurra father, who once sat on Kiama Council, has admitted he used a rifle to intimidate a man over a collapsed truck deal.

Former Kiama councillor Brendon Comber (left) leaving Wollongong Local Court with his lawyer on Friday. Picture: Dylan Arvela

A former Kiama councillor-turned-music business operator has entered a final hour guilty plea to a string of charges relating to a terrifying armed holdup near Wollongong in early 2022.

Brendon Reece Comber was due to front a hearing in Wollongong Local Court on Friday after initially pleading not guilty to using an offensive weapon with the intent to commit an indictable offence, using an unauthorised firearm, not keeping a firearm safely and intimidation.

However, negotiations led to the first – and most serious charge – being withdrawn and replaced with a further count of intimidation.

Comber, a 42-year-old father of two, then pleaded guilty to the four charges.

Documents tendered in court stated Comber, who was elected to Kiama Council in 2004, was renting a truck until a set amount was paid, at which point he would become the owner of the vehicle.

Comber stopped communicating with the owner when he still had $2000 owing.

The owner and his son went to Comber‘s Minnamurra home, without his knowledge, on February 16, 2022, and repossessed the truck which had hundreds of thousands of dollars of music equipment in it relating to Comber’s R&R Production Services business.

Brendon Comber in 2005 when he was a Kiama councillor.

Once the offender found out the truck had been taken, he retrieved his .22 calibre rifle and ammunition from his gun safe before tracking down the man and his son in Gwynneville near Wollongong.

The documents stated Comber blocked the truck‘s path before going to the passenger door and showing the man his loaded rifle.

The victim convinced Comber to discuss the issue in a nearby street, giving him a chance to dial triple-0.

Police were also contacted by a member of the public who witnessed the situation.

Police were on the scene about 5.45pm with Comber placed under arrest and taken to Wollongong Police Station where he admitted to possessing the gun, but claimed it had remained in a bag.

In court on Friday, Magistrate Mark Douglass ordered a sentencing assessment report be prepared with Comber expected to learn his fate next month.