Kerang father fronts court over burglary and firearm theft

A Kerang meth head bent open a gun safe at a rural property while the owner was away overseas and stole three firearms, including a 20-gauge shotgun.

Lucas Walters broke into a rural property and stole three weapons, including an air rifle, while its owner was away overseas.

A meth-fuelled thief who stole three firearms from rural property while the owner was away overseas has been jailed for seven months.

Lucas Walters, 38, fronted the County Court in Bendigo for sentencing on Monday after earlier pleading guilty to charges of burglary, theft of firearm, theft and intentionally damaging property.

In additional to the seven months in jail, he was slapped with to a 24-month community corrections order.

According to court documents, Walters broke into a farming property at the end of Caldwells Rd in Appin South on May 9 last year when its owner Michael Johnson was holidaying overseas.

Mr Johnson had stored a centre fire rifle, an air rifle and a 20-gauge shotgun in a secured gun safe. All firearms were registered.

A week after the firearms theft, police executed a warrant at a house Walters lived in Kerang and located an air rifle in an open workshop shed.

Checks revealed the firearm belonged to Mr Johnson.

Lucas Walters has gone to jail for seven months for stealing three firearms from a rural property in Kerang.

Walters told police he found the air rifle on the banks of the Loddon River two days earlier while looking for bottles. He said he took the firearm home and didn’t think much about it. The other two guns were not recovered.

Mr Johnson’s son checked his father’s property and discovered the house had been broken

into and that the gun safe door had been bent open. Unsuccessful attempts were made to pull the gun safe off the wall.

Upon his return from overseas, Mr Johnson went to his property and found the back sliding door unlocked and the bathroom window was open with a chair underneath it.

The gun safe door had been cut and bent open.

Judge Sarah Leighfield said Walters used drugs, including methamphetamine, at the time of his offending in order to fulfil the function of self medication to help with regulating his emotions and manage his untreated mental health symptoms.

Walters will start his seven-month prison term at the expiry of a five-month sentence he’s serving on unrelated charges of unlawful assault, dangerous driving and possession of a drug of dependence.

The five-month sentence finishes on March 29.