Fourth Reich bikie faces court on firearms, weapons charges
A Fourth Reich bikie has faced Wollongong Local Court, after police raided his Dapto home, uncovering firearm parts and weapons.
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An Illawarra bikie has been found not guilty of breaching a firearms prohibition order, after Strike Force Raptor police raided his Dapto home in June last year.
Fourth Reich member David John Garlick, 52, faced Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday after police uncovered drugs, weapons and firearm parts and ammunition during a search of his Emerson Road home in 2018.
The court heard police searched his house immediately after serving him with a firearm prohibition order (FPO), uncovering three shotgun shells, a rifle magazine and air pellets.
Garlic was then charged with being in possession of a firearm – while subject to an FPO.
Garlic plead not guilty to the three charges, with his defence arguing he couldn’t have breached an FPO that was served on him only moments earlier. During his appearance at court on Wednesday, Magistrate Roger Clisdell agreed with his legal team, finding him not guilty of a breach.
However, Garlic pleaded guilty to four other offences in court on Wednesday, including possession of prohibited drugs, and three counts of possess or use a prohibited weapon.
The charges related to knuckle dusters, an extendible baton and cannabis located during inside his home during the raid.
According to court documents, police found a set of silver knuckle dusters just minutes into the search, which Garlic admitted were his. One of the officers conducting the search asked Garlic if he knew owning them was an offence, to which he responded “I do now”.
Continuing the search, police also located five grams of cannabis in Garlick’s bedside drawer, as well as a second set of knuckle dusters and an extendible baton.
Garlic told the officers who found the baton it was for “personal use” and “self protection”.
After uncovering the .22 magazine, Garlic told police it was “50 million years old” and that he’d kept it “since he was a kid”.
After pleading guilty to the offences, Magistrate Clisdell slapped Garlic with $900 in fines and placed him on a 12-month community corrections order.
“I note he has a record for possession of prohibited weapons in the past,” Magistrate Clisdell said.
“The more serious matter here though is that he was keeping these weapons for protection.”
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