'Pretty serious': Man jailed for having shortened firearm

A TOOWOOMBA man who was found with a shortened firearm in his possession has been jailed for 12 months.

The Toowoomba courthouse - generic pic. Pic Mark Cranitch.

JUST having a sawn-off rifle was enough to land a 23-year-old Toowoomba man with a 12 month jail sentence.

Jamie Ronald Cullen was facing a maximum penalty of seven years in jail but he will serve his time on parole after he was sentenced in Toowoomba District Court yesterday.

Police seized the sawnoff .22 calibre bolt action rifle from a Toowoomba residence frequented by the 23-year-old on October 17 last year, the court heard.

His fingerprints were also found on a bag of ammunition, Crown prosecutor Alysha Ballantyne told the court.

Cullen, who had spent 140 days in pre-sentence custody, appeared by video link from the prison to plead guilty to possessing the Category H weapon.

He was yet to appear in the Magistrates Court to have other matters including drug possession for which he was charged at the same time, the court heard.

His barrister Jessica Goldie told the court her client grew up in Nanango and had been diagnosed with ADHD as a child.
Her client had started using drugs as a child and has since struggled with methylamphetamine, she said.

Her client had been clean of drugs since being in custody and planned on moving back to Toowoomba with family when he was released from prison, she said.

Telling him a sawnoff rifle was "a pretty serious thing to have", Judge Tony Rafter sentenced Cullen to 12 months jail but declaring the 140 days as time serviced ordered he be released on parole forthwith.

Originally published as 'Pretty serious': Man jailed for having shortened firearm