Danyn Maddern sentenced in County Court for firearm offence, aggravated burglary in Rye
A thug with a lengthy rap told a court he did not remember pointing a handgun at a man’s face during a time when he was eating “cocaine for breakfast”.
South East
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A convicted criminal who was “eating cocaine for breakfast” pointed a gun at a Peninsula man’s face and was soon after busted with a terrifying trove of firearms and Comanchero paraphernalia.
Danyn Maddern, 27, fronted the County Court on Friday after pleading guilty to aggravated burglary.
Maddern, who also pleaded guilty to firearm possession, had recently left prison and started a new relationship in June 2023.
The victim, who had once dated Maddern’s new girlfriend, lived in Rye, the court heard.
On the night of July 6, 2023, Maddern drove past the victim’s house and asked him if he “(wanted) to have a crack,” the court heard.
The next night, Maddern went a step further.
He returned wearing a black hoodie and knocked on the victim’s door.
He then pointed an imitation handgun at the victim’s face and continued to keep it pointed as the victim started to walk backwards, believing it was a real gun.
The victim asked what he had done wrong and Maddern replied: “What haven’t you done,?” the court heard.
Maddern then “placed both hands on the handgun” as though he were getting ready to shoot.
When the terrified victim tried to escape, Maddern struck him repeatedly over the head with the butt of the gun.
Police later searched Maddern’s car and found a cache of weapons, including a large hunting knife, a longarm firearm, a handgun and a sawn-off rifle.
The court heard officers also found three Comanchero Patches and a Comanchero t-shirt.
Maddern was arrested when he handed himself into the police on July 20.
Judge Frances Hogan described the offending as “nasty, anti-social, thuggish behaviour”.
She told the court the matter was concerning because Maddern did not seem to be “just an unhappy drug addict relapsing”.
“(This is) someone who is a seasoned and convicted handler of weapons,” she said.
She told the court she could not find the exact motivation for Madern’s offending except some largely unexplained personal grievance.
“You decided you would take the law into your own hands and engage in brutal vigilante behaviour,” she said.
The court heard Maddern had a very difficult upbringing and had been sent to jail numerous times since 2017.
He had been released from jail in March 2023 — only four months before the most recent offences.
Maddern had told the court he was drug-affected when he pointed the gun and could not remember his actions.
At the time he was having “cocaine for breakfast” and xanax or tramadol to bring him down, the court heard.
The court heard Maddern had shown some signs of maturing and had engaged in prison programs as well as seen a psychologist, since being on remand.
He was convicted and sentenced to five and a half years behind bars, with a 30 month non-parole period.
