Hayden Bonnici: Anti-bikie cops bust Bendigo man with shotgun

Anti-bikie detectives busted a Bendigo man armed with a double-barrel shotgun outside a popular shopping centre.

27-year-old Bendigo man Hayden Bonnici was arrested by Echo Taskforce officers at Bendigo Marketplace in October 2020. Picture: Facebook

Anti-bikie detectives busted a Bendigo man armed with a double-barrel shotgun outside a popular shopping centre, a court has heard.

Hayden Bonnici pleaded guilty to weapons and drugs offences in Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on Friday after he was arrested by Echo Taskforce officers in October 2020.

Court documents said the 27-year-old was the subject of a “proactive investigation” by the anti-bikie taskforce division of Victoria Police who had followed Bonnici from October 2, 2020.

Two weeks into the operation, on Thursday October 15, Bonnici was in bushland off Lockwood Rd, Kangaroo Flat.

Detectives said they heard the sound of a firearm being shot before spotting Bonnici leaving the area as a passenger in a Kia Rio hatchback.

The 27-year-old was later seen at the Bendigo Marketplace carpark.

Officers served Bonnici a firearms prohibition order and asked if he had any weapons in the car.

Bonnici said he did not, but officers found a backpack with a double barrel shotgun stuffed inside.

The court heard the gun was separated into two pieces with the serial number scratched off.

A kitchen knife was found in the driver’s side door pocket and three spent ammunition cartridges were in a blue container in the glovebox.

One unused round was left on the back car seat.

Bonnici was arrested for violating the firearms order.

The court heard Bonnici remained silent during the length of his police interview.

Ms Dubroja said her client had fallen into “the same cycle” after being released from prison on a community corrections order.

She said the young man was staying with a partner and when the relationship ended he fell into “transience and homelessness”.

Ms Dubroja said his early guilty plea was a sign of his remorse.

Magistrate Megan Aumair said she was familiar with the 27-year-old’s background and mental health issues as she had seen him many times at the bench.

“There’s been opportunities for you,” Ms Aumair told Bonnici.

“You have the capacity, you have the ability to engage in programs.

“You can make better choices. It’s time you thought long and hard about that.”

Ms Aumair said the Bendigo man’s offending was in breach of a standing community corrections order, for which he had already served 300 days in prison.

On Friday May 28 Bonnici pleaded guilty to the firearms offences, drug possession and breaching his community corrections order.

He was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison, with a non-parole period of 15 months.

Bonicci had already served 225 days in pre-sentence detention.