Mate’s car lands offender in jail

BORROWING a mate’s car has ultimately put a Toowoomba man in jail after a shortened .22 calibre rifle was found by police in the vehicle.

Donald William James Edwards had 18 pages of criminal history and so was well known to police who approached the car in which he was sitting in the car park of a Withcott service station on March 14.

Police recognised the car and asked if it belonged to a man also well known to police, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

Edwards said it was and that he was in the process of buying the car from that person.

His solicitor Claire Graham, of Peters Criminal Lawyers, said the exchange was captured on police body camera and her client had fully co-operated with police.

The 46-year-old had been sitting in the driver’s seat with his partner and three-year-old child at the time, she said.

The shortened rifle was found by police in the vehicle and though her client knew the weapon was there he had no intention of using it and it was inoperable in any case as the bolt was not attached, she said.

There was no ammunition in the car, it had occurred in daylight hours and her client had a canoe on the roof having just been swimming so there was no aggravating circumstances, Ms Graham submitted.

Mr Brewster-Webb told the court that among the defendant’s 18 pages of criminal history were two previous matters involving shortened firearms for which he had received jail terms.

Edwards was on parole at the time of this offence and he was serving a previous term which had a full-time release date of June 14 next year, he said.

This incident had occurred just one month after his release from prison on parole, Mr Brewster-Webb submitted.

Ms Graham asked the court to make any jail term concurrent with his current sentence so the penalty would not be “crushing”.

Ms Graham said due to COVID restrictions in prisons, her client could not have visits from his now pregnant partner and child nor could he do courses to better himself.

Acting Magistrate Roger Stark noted Edwards had only been released from prison on February 14 and this had occurred exactly one month later.

Taking into account his plea of guilty and the time he had spent in custody, Mr Stark sentenced Edwards to three months in jail to be served cumulatively on his current sentence but ordered he be eligible to apply for release on parole immediately.