Mohammad Tabbaa: Electrician charged with have firearms, ammunition inside bag

When police searched a man at a Sydney train station, they suspected they might find drugs. But what they found instead was much more sinister.

Mohammad Tabbaa appeared in Sutherland Local Court where he pleaded guilty to seven firearms charges. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

An electrician has admitted to having two loaded firearms and ammunition inside a satchel bag he was wearing at a busy train station in Sydney’s south.

Mohammad Tabbaa, 22, appeared in Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to seven firearms charges.

Agreed facts tendered to court said police spotted Tabbaa, who they recognised from previous interactions, at Hurstville train station about 6.30pm on February 22.

Police had activated lights to pull over a driver of a Holden Cruze on Ormonde Pde for a random breath test, while Tabbaa walked towards the car.

Officers spoke to the driver and Tabbaa, with the latter claiming he was being picked up by his mate.

Mohammad Tabbaa, 22, outside Sutherland Local Court. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

Officers noticed Tabbaa appeared nervous and repeatedly grabbed his black leather satchel bag he was wearing, documents state.

The driver of the car, who also seemed nervous and was shaking, originally said he did not know Tabbaa but changed his story to say he had come to pick him up.

Police searched the car, suspecting the men had drugs on them, before 2g of cannabis was found inside.

The officers then searched Tabbaa’s bag, discovering a CZ75 B9mm semi automatic pistol, which had a silver handle, documents state.

Officers removed the magazine which contained 9mm Luger rounds but no bullets inside the chamber.

Court documents state all that was required to fire the gun was to rack the slide. Police also found more ammunition inside the bag.

Tabbaa will return to Sutherland Local Court in December to be sentenced.

Tabbaa was arrested before he was strip searched inside a police caged truck for any further weapons, with nothing found on him, before he was taken to Kogarah police station.

At the station, police found a large clear resealable bag containing about 50 rounds of 9mm Luger and .22 calibre ammunition inside the satchel bag, documents said.

Police also located a very small pistol, which did not have an serial number, and was ready to be fired.

The pistol had one complete .22 round in one of the barrels, another was empty and the other barrel contained a spent .22 calibre empty casing.

A further two mobile phones were found inside the bag, in addition to the phone Tabbaa had in his pocket, with all three being seized for analysis.

Tabbaa refused to talk to police, with the documents not revealing why he had the guns.

He was charged with two counts each of possessing an unauthorised pistol, not keeping a prohibited firearm safely and possessing a loaded firearm in a public place and one count of possessing ammunition without holding a licence.

The case was adjourned to December 6 for sentence.