Nunchuck vigilante TV star James Read in court on weapons charge
A VIGILANTE from Cranbourne East who gave a nunchuck demonstration on national TV to “scare” off home invaders has faced court after cops slapped him with weapons charges.
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A VIGILANTE from Cranbourne East who mocked police and gave a nunchuck demonstration on national TV to “scare” off home invaders has faced court after cops slapped him with weapons charges.
Earlier this year James William Read of Cranbourne East appeared on A Current Affair blaming the rising number of aggravated burglaries in the southeast on police inaction.
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But his bumbling weapon demo backfired badly when cops watched the program and the next day searched his house, finding five sets of nunchucks.
James William Read yesterday pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing illegal weapons.
The court heard he was one of several residents who were depicted in a segment of A Current Affair as a vigilante gang known as “No Fear”.
In the Channel 9 program aired on February 5, Read, who just used his first name James, can be seen somewhat comically swirling a set of nun-chucks, falling over and occasionally dropping them.
The next day police attended Read’s home armed with a search warrant.
They found five sets of nunchucks and a sai, which is a pointed, prong-shaped metal baton.
Read told officers the implements were old martial arts training aids belonging to his son.
He said he was “not happy” with what he perceived to be a lack of police action regarding aggravated burglaries in the area, and needed to protect himself.
He represented himself in court, saying he felt at the time that the community needed to respond because the police didn’t have sufficient resources.
He said “he wasn’t hunting anyone down or anything”.
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Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said if Read had been caught using the weapons in the street, he’d be facing a jail term.
“You can’t have illegal weapons for protection,” Mr Lethbridge said.
“You should get an alarm, or a dog, or something like that.”
But he also said as Read had no priors, was a person of good character and the nunchucks were old training aids for his now adult son, he deserved leniency.
Read was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond, with no conviction recorded, and the weapons will be destroyed.
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