A man has been labelled “incredibly stupid” by a Sydney magistrate after allegedly firing a water pistol that looked “strikingly similar” to a Glock firearm outside the NSW parliament on Thursday afternoon, triggering a major police response.
Appearing at Downing Centre Local Court via video link on Friday, 28-year-old Waqar Hassan Virk lowered his head as magistrate Greg Grogan invited him to take a moment and “reflect on the stupidity” of his actions.
Waqar Hassan Virk was awarded bail on the condition he doesn’t go within one kilometre of parliament after allegedly discharging an imitation gun near it.Credit: Dylan Coker
“I have no idea why a person would take such an object to such a high-profile place and wave it around … it is beyond me as to why he would do it and think it was OK,” Grogan said.
“If there were an offence of committing a very stupid act in public, Mr Virk no doubt would be pleading guilty at the first available opportunity.”
The court heard the Granville man drove behind Parliament House just before 1pm on Thursday, stuck his arm out the window with the imitation weapon and discharged a substance believed to be water. The incident was captured on parliament CCTV.
Waqar Hassan Virk, wearing a costume police hat, is accused of brandishing a Glock-lookalike water pistol outside the NSW parliament on Thursday.
The prosecution said Virk had “brandished” the weapon and “waved it around” before discharging it, adding the item looked “strikingly similar” to a Glock pistol.
Staff at parliament, which was sitting at the time, called police after seeing a person acting suspiciously. Virk allegedly drove away before police arrived.
Grogan noted the imitation weapon, a white gun with a black slide believed to be a water pistol, looked “fairly real” and said Virk was lucky he wasn’t “subject to a greater travesty by being Tasered or even shot”.
The court heard Virk bought it two days prior as a gift for his nephew in Pakistan.
Officers swarmed the area, and Virk was arrested hours later near Sydney Airport following a widespread manhunt. He was charged with one count of possessing an unauthorised firearm.
Virk made full admissions for his actions, the court heard and was remorseful when interviewed by police.
His lawyer noted his actions were “incredibly inadvisable” but not “malicious”.
Virk was granted bail on the condition that he surrendered his passport, did not travel domestically or internationally, and did not go within one kilometre of Hospital Road or NSW Parliament House.
The water pistol seized by police after the incident behind NSW Parliament House.Credit: NSW Police
Virk works as an Uber and truck driver, sending money home to his family in Pakistan.
He faces a maximum sentence of five years in jail and will face court on November 29.
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