Jackson Delmo pleads guilty in the County Court over pulling out a sawn off rifle during a physical altercation

A sawn-off rifle wielding man who put a Hoppers Crossing primary school into lockdown has blamed his offending on his mental health and childhood issues.

Bellbridge Primary School, Hoppers Crossing was forced into lockdown after Jackson Delmo wielded a loaded sawn-off rifle outside the Bellbridge Ave milkbar.

A man who brought a loaded sawn-off rifle to a street fight sending a primary school into lockdown claims his decision making was influenced by his mental health and childhood.

Jackson Delmo, 24, appeared via video link in the County Court on Friday morning, pleading guilty to multiple charges of possession of prohibited weapons, an imitation firearm, assault, possessing ammunition and committing indictable offences while on bail.

The court heard Delmo was engaged in a physical altercation with two men in September last year where he ran to his car and pulled out a loaded sawn-off rifle in the Hoppers Crossing street in broad daylight.

Delmo and another man entered a milk bar opposite his place of residence in Bellbridge Ave at 11.30am on September 12 last year, before being confronted by two other men.

The four men got into a verbal argument before it came to blows at the entrance of the store, when Delmo ran to his car and produced a black satchel containing the sawn-off rifle.

He used the loaded gun to threaten the two men, in an effort to “diffuse” the situation.

Delmo wielded the gun in front of multiple witnesses in “broad daylight”, before quickly returning the weapon to his car and retreating back into the house with his housemate.

The court heard Delmo moved the car behind the property gates before police arrived.

Witnesses called police, who locked down a nearby primary school as a safety precaution, before arresting Delmo two hours later at 1.30pm.

Officers executed a search warrant of the Hoppers Crossing property, finding an imitation firearm, a taser, the sawn-off rifle from the incident, a Glock handgun, multiple rounds of ammunition and an extendible baton.

When he was later interviewed by police, Delmo remained silent for the entire interview.

The court heard that due to family violence in his childhood home, Delmo had turned to drugs at a young age, and became addicted to methamphetamines by the age of 15.

Delmo’s counsel claimed his conflict resolution skills were a direct result of his mental health issues (diagnosis of anxiety, depression and “elements of” borderline personality disorder) and his “difficult childhood.”

“He saw his parents inflicting violence on one another to diffuse arguments throughout his whole childhood,” Delmo’s lawyer said.

“Here, it wasn’t a plan in itself to use the weapon to point and shoot, but he’s used the weapon to diffuse the situation.”

Judge Trevor Wraight was not convinced.

“He was able to diffuse the situation by walking away, but instead he went back to get a gun,” he said.

“He knew exactly what he was doing, he got a weapon and pointed it.”

Justice Wraight accepted the offending wasn’t planned, but said Delmo could have chosen another course of action.

“He could have gone home and stayed there,” he said.

“I accept it wasn’t planned but he decided to go and get a weapon. I can imagine that was pretty frightening.”

The court heard Delmo’s offending escalated after a relationship breakdown in 2020 when his partner became pregnant and stopped using drugs with him.

At the same time, Delmo’s parents were going through a divorce, before his mother moved to QLD and he ceased contact with his father.

Delmo subsequently quit his job as a full time painter, increased his drug use and became homeless, leading to the September offending.

The court heard Delmo had been couch-surfing at the time of his offence, before being remanded into custody.

Justice Wraight was concerned as to why Delmo had weapons in his possession, considering Delmo’s priors of drug trafficking.

“It’s common sense that he would have these weapons for a reason, some people collect guns as a hobby, but this clearly isn’t that” he said.

“Particularly when you look at the fact that he’s been able to obtain a Glock handgun, when it’s almost impossible to have a handgun of any sort unless you’re in a certain line of work.”

Specific and general deterrence were both factors to be taken into consideration before sentencing Justice Wraith said.

“Loaded weapons and weapons in the community can wreak havoc,” he said.

“In this situation, he is confronted with violence and he’s gone and gotten a weapon, this is disturbing conduct.”

Delmo will return to the County Court for sentencing on Wednesday June 21.

He will remain in Fulham prison until then.

[e-mail]