Richard O’Shea Crowley pleads guilty to drug and weapons charges in Alice Springs Local Court

A stolen forklift, $15,000 in cash, a shotgun seized by police, and an alleged broken eye-socket – an expat in Alice Springs has pleaded guilty to a string of drug and weapon offences.

Alice Springs Local Court. (AAP Image/David Mariuz)

A 31-year-old Irish mechanic is yet to be sentenced after he pleaded guilty to a string of drugs and weapons charges in Alice Springs Local Court.

Richard O’Shea Crowley – originally from County Cork, Ireland – was remanded in custody by Judge David Bamber on Wednesday June 12, for offences which involved guns, drugs, $15,000 in cash and a stolen forklift.

O’Shea Crowley was charged with possessing trafficable quantities of methamphetamine and cannabis, possessing a firearm while unlicensed, failing to meet firearm storage requirements, and unlawfully possessing property.

He pleaded guilty to all charges.

Reading out the agreed facts, Crown Prosecutor James Moore detailed how police acted on “classified information” and searched O’Shea Crowley’s house in Alice Springs on October 10, 2023, where they found a Remington 7600 police pump action rifle and shotgun shells for the weapon.

Mr Moore said the police search also uncovered 2.2 kilograms of cannabis, 6 grams of methamphetamine and a stolen Mitsubishi forklift.

Prior to the police search, police were also at O’Shea Crowley’s property in 2021, where on December 8 they found 1.03 grams of methamphetamine in a pill bottle, 30 capsules of dexamphetamines and $15,000 in cash, according to Mr Moore.

Mr Moore also further accused O’Shea of collaborating with another person over the phone while on remand in November 2023 to help supply an “early Christmas present.”

“That was a reference to supplying cannabis,” Mr Moore said.

However, defence lawyer Matt Hubber painted a different picture of O’Shea Crowley, who said his client had fallen on hard times after a break-up and the loss of one of his close friends.

“He travelled to Australia when he was 19 years old. He started in Adelaide, then onto Perth, up to Darwin then finally setting up in Alice Springs,” he said.

“He’s been gainfully employed here in Alice working for Alice Springs Metal recyclers.”

Laura Hill, Nicole Jettner and defence lawyer Matt Hubber leave Alice Springs Local Court on June 12, 2024.

With his family back in Ireland, O’Shea Crowley wasn’t without support, with Nicole Jettner from the Alice Springs Metal Recyclers and Laura Hill sitting in court and providing character references.

“When he moved here he moved with his then girlfriend and best friend,” Mr Hubber said.

“His life was somewhat turned upside down when his partner and he separated; shortly after that his best friend had to move back to Ireland where he took his own life in 2019.

“By his own admission, at that point, his life was off the rails.”

Mr Hubber said his client was unaware the forklift was stolen, and that the firearm was “left at his property.”

Since the drugs, weapons, and stolen forklift were discovered on O’Shea Crowley’s property, he has been on remand, where he has been assaulted in prison twice, according to Mr Hubber.

One of the assaults required him to be flown to Darwin for medical treatment, Mr Hubber said.

Pushing for a suspended sentence, Mr Hubber argued his client had successful prospects for rehabilitation, noting how he maintained full-time employment since settling in Alice Springs.

But Mr Moore argued O’Shea Crowley’s firearms offences were “particularly serious” and his offending history showed he would be likely to reoffend.

Before adjourning the case, Judge Bamber requested an institutional report be compiled before the next hearing.

“Maybe a broken eye-socket – if that’s the case – made him think this jail business isn’t a good idea,” Judge Bamber said.

O’Shea Crowley is scheduled for sentencing at 9:30am on Monday, June 17, where he will appear via video-link.