Michael Rodney Smith sentenced to prison for firearm stealing and trafficking

A young man with an IQ in the lowest percentile of the population and “bleak” prospects has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for stealing guns from his mother’s home.

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A YOUNG man who was seen by a neighbour stealing guns from his mother’s home will spend at least eight months in prison.

Michael Rodney Smith, 25, pleaded guilty to burglary, stealing a firearm and trafficking in firearms and was sentenced by Justice Robert Pearce in the Supreme Court in Launceston on Thursday.

The court heard he broke into the George Town home of his mother and her partner on August 26, 2018 knowing they would not be home on a Sunday morning.

He entered through an unlocked garage with bolt cutters, a drill and other tools and forced open a firearm safe.

He stole six guns, including four .22 rifles, a .303 rifle and a shotgun.

The theft was discovered that afternoon and police discovered Smith had been seen by a neighbour and left his fingerprints on the gun safe.

The court heard his partner returned three of the guns that night.

Smith was spotted by police on August 29 and in the course of a chase, threw one of the rifles out of his car window.

Launceston Supreme Court.

He was arrested and made admission about what he had done the next day.

“He claimed to have immediately sold two of the guns for about $300-$400 and kept the other for protection against persons he said had been threatening him,” Justice Pearce said.

“A few weeks later he told the police that he had not sold the two guns but had hidden them in a mining tunnel in the bush near Lefroy.”

“Despite an extensive search the guns were not found.”

A pump action .22 rifle was recovered in November 2018 from a storage shed in a different location, the court heard.

Justice Pearce said that by conveying firearms not registered in his name from one place to another without lawful excuse, Smith had trafficked them.

“Stealing firearms and trafficking in firearms are serious crimes,” he said.

“There is a strong link between stolen firearms and crimes involving violence and dishonesty. “Even if the defendant did not sell the guns, he hid two of them. It was almost inevitable that they, like most stolen firearms, would end up in the hands of criminals or be used for a criminal purpose.”

Detective Inspector Damien George in September said Tasmanian police had seized over 40 illegal weapons since May. Picture: Zak Simmonds

One of the firearms has not been recovered

The court heard Smith has a moderate intellectual impairment; a cognitive assessment conducted in 2011 assessed his IQ between 44 and 55 – the lowest percentile of the population.

“He is susceptible to the influence of others and is easily led. This combination of factors led him to crime,” Justice Pearce said.

Justice Pearce said Smith had a “very poor record” of crime and drug use.

“It seems that his prospects for rehabilitation are bleak.”

Smith was convicted on each count and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment backdated to September 5.

He will be eligible for parole after serving eight months of the sentence.