Heidelberg West’s Shannon Tibos jailed for carrying shotgun
He’s already been jailed several times for firearms offences, but that didn’t stop this Heidelberg West dad keeping a shotgun and ammunition in the family car. And that was not all he had to face up to in court.
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A father who was found with a shotgun and ammunition when police stopped him in Reservoir had already been convicted of illegally carrying firearms several times before.
And Shannon Tibos was caught with the gun while on bail for drug trafficking, with police having previously found a large stash of methamphetamine and scales in his car.
The 35-year-old pleaded guilty to all charges against him before Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on June 2, having been locked up for 46 days.
The court heard he seemed nervous when police pulled him over in Reservoir about 11pm on April 17, and his story about where he was going didn’t make sense, nor did it match his passenger’s.
Police then found a longarm shotgun and five rounds of ammunition underneath the spare tyre cover in his Holden Commodore.
A multitool with a knife blade was discovered in the driver’s door of his car as well as 1.4 gram of methamphetamine.
Police searched his Heidelberg West home on April 23, finding five vials of steroids.
The court Tibos’ trafficking charges arose from October 25, about 12.35am, when police saw Tibos driving from BP Reservoir to the carpark of a Heidelberg West gym in convoy with a Mercedes.
Officers followed him, finding him standing near his car when they approached him 10 minutes later.
The court heard Tibos appeared drug-affected, and had a fresh syringe mark on his arm, bloodshot eyes and was speaking slowly.
Police searched his car and found 17g of methamphetamine in a cooler bag on the passenger seat, as well as a set of scales.
A large knife was in the driver’s door and nine diazepam pills and an oxazepam pill were found in his pocket.
The court heard Tibos told police the drugs were all for his personal use, saying maybe he got too much when he was asked why he had almost six times the trafficable quantity of methamphetamine.
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Tibos’ lawyer told the court he was a father of four and former construction worker who had relapsed into drug use after the death of his grandfather.
He fronted the court with a long criminal history, including violent offences and multiple convictions for illegally having firearms.
Magistrate Stephen Ballek said Tibos was facing a “most serious charge” of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm with cartridge ammunition.
He said possessing a firearm warranted a significant term of imprisonment, even for the first offence.
Tibos was sentenced to 12 months’ jail with a non-parole period of six months, having already served about 1.5 months.
He was also fined $850 and $127.40 in court costs.
Mr Ballek said he would have imposed an 18-month sentence with a non-parole period of 12 months if Tibos hadn’t pleaded guilty.