Ronald Elliott: Ringwood man busted with fake gun, cannabis and flares

A Ringwood man who found a fake firearm while rummaging through hard rubbish has learnt his fate after being caught out during a police visit.

Ringwood’s Ronald Elliott was fined and convicted for possessing cannabis, a fake gun and flares. Picture: Kiel Egging.

A Ringwood man caught with a fake gun at his home has explained how he found it in hard rubbish and planned to paint it and sell it.

Ronald Elliott pleaded guilty in the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on September 6 on charges including drug possession and possession of an imitation firearm.

The court heard officers visited Elliott’s Ringwood home on September 14, 2021, and found a quantity of cannabis in a zip lock bag, cannabis seeds in a small tin, three signal flares deemed to be stolen goods, and the fake gun.

When asked about the imitation gun and the drugs, Elliott said he found the gun while looking through hard rubbish one day, but had no intention to use it.

Instead, he planned to paint it and possibly sell it to make some money.

He said he had used cannabis since an early age and took the drug to ease the pain in his legs.

The court also heard Elliott had prior theft offences including stealing a $300 DeWolt toolkit he found in a carpark at Eastland on August 18, and some copper piping from a Ringwood home on June 1.

Magistrate Justin Foster convicted and fined Elliott $750, along with $131.50 in costs.