DOPING FOR DOOMSDAY

Gatton man had guns, ammo and drugs

WHEN police searched Adam Matthew Clarence Maddison’s home, he was found with three rifles, two tins of ammunition, a flick knife, cannabis and a large amount of stored food goods.

The 35-year-old did not have a weapons licence and so the guns, ammunition and flick knife were unregistered, but that hadn’t deterred the Gatton resident.

He told police that he had been preparing for Doomsday and that he “didn’t need a weapons licence for Doomsday”, the Toowoomba Magistrates Court was told.

However, just how effective the weapons would have been in turning back the forces of Armageddon and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was questionable with his solicitor Joe McConnell of MacDonald Law telling the court that his client claimed he had never used the firearms and didn’t even know if the old guns he had found still worked.

The 35-year-old pleaded guilty to seven charges arising from the Doomsday-linked possessions.

A 35-YEAR-OLD man found with weapons, ammunition, cannabis and a large amount of food supplies told police he was preparing for Doomsday.

The Doomsday revelation came after police activated a search warrant at the Gatton home of Adam Matthew Clarence Maddison where he lived with his mother.

He admitted to having two Category A guns and a Category C rifle in his bedroom, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

The search had also turned up 60 .22 calibre bullets in two tins, a flick knife which was a Category M weapon, a bong which smelt of burnt cannabis, and scissors with the remnants of chopped “green leafy material”, police prosecutor Eddie Fraser told the court.

Maddison told police he had more cannabis in the house but that his mother had hidden it on him, Mr Fraser said.

A search of another room had found 4.1g of cannabis in a clip seal plastic bag between two mattresses, he said.

Maddison told police he had been “waiting for Doomsday” and that he did not have a licence for the weapons or ammunition because “he didn’t need a licence for Doomsday”, Mr Fraser said.

The 35-year-old pleaded guilty to possessing a dangerous drug and drug-related utensils, unlawful possession of weapons, not having authority to possess explosives (bullets), and failing to provide his identification particulars to police within seven days.

His solicitor Joe McConnell of MacDonald Law told the court his client had some mental health issues for which he was now medicated.

His client had amassed a five-page criminal history which was mainly made up of drugs but his last weapons offence was in 2005, he said.

The search of his client’s home and arrest was more than a year ago now and his client had not re-offended in that time, Mr McConnell submitted.

The weapons found in the search were old and his client didn’t even know if they still worked, he said.

Acting Magistrate Roger Stark noted the disability pensioner had a “significant prior history” which included producing dangerous drugs for which he was handed a suspended jail term.

Mr Stark sentenced Maddison to 12 months probation to include random testing for illicit drugs and fined him $200 for failing to provide ID particulars to police.