Troy Barnes pleads guilty after taking hostage in Buninyong

“You’re going to die here tonight with this gun because I’ve got one bullet left for you,” a Ballarat man told his frightened hostage.

Troy Barnes, 30, pleaded guilty in Ballarat County Court after holding a woman hostage at gunpoint in Buninyong in August 2021. Photo: Facebook

Ballarat residents who peered through their windows late on a particular night last year might have seen a rifle jutting out of a passing Ford Falcon; some in Buninyong might even have heard smashing glass or a woman screaming just a few hours before sunrise.

A court has heard Troy Barnes, now 30 years old, was on August 16, 2021 driving unlicensed and erratically, sometimes on the wrong side of the road with his headlights off.

It was about 9pm.

Beside him was a woman – who protested against Barnes’ erratic manoeuvres – and in his hands he held a gun, pointing it at cars as he proceeded.

Barnes handed his passenger some bullets to make an imprint of her fingers before throwing the ammunition away and warning “she’d be in trouble”.

They reached Buninyong when the gold-coloured vehicle got bogged on a nature strip in Learmonth St.

The pair having exited the car, Barnes took the woman’s phone and began to use her body “as a shield”.

While she was dragged along, his hostage feared she would be shot if she attempted an escape.

Members of the public heard bullets firing about 1.50am.

Police arrived and approached Barnes with their guns drawn, ordering him to drop his weapon.

But he continued to protect himself with his victim, despite her screaming at him to leave her alone.

“You’re going to die here tonight with this gun because I’ve got one bullet left for you,” Barnes told her, at one point striking her with the muzzle of his firearm.

As he moved through town, Barnes damaged property worth $6400, including that of a coin laundry, cafe, post office, op shop, and more.

In Warrenheip St, a man heard glass breaking and a woman calling for help.

He came outside and yelled at Barnes to let his hostage go.

CCTV captured Barnes’ struggle with the woman in front of the residential home.

Barnes’ victim managed to break free and run inside about 3.30am.

Roughly three hours later, police dogs sniffed out the culprit in bushes along Geelong Rd, inflicting a bite wound to Barnes’ arm for which he was taken to hospital.

In Barnes’ hiding place, in his car, and at his house, police found drugs and gun paraphernalia, including dozens of shotgun shells.

The Ballarat man appeared in County Court on Friday and pleaded guilty to a slew of charges, kidnapping, assault, making a threat to kill, and damaging property among them.

Barnes’ lawyer said his client might have suffered from prenatal drug exposure and was functionally illiterate.

He will be sentenced next year.