Man made gun silencer

A sharp shooting pensioner has told a magistrate he was keen to avoid “World War III” with his wife after he was found to be in possession of prohibited weapons.

Peter John De Kock appeared in the Townsville Magistrates Court yesterday as a representative for himself.

He pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully possess a weapon category R weapon and one count of without reasonable excuse modified the construction of a firearm category B weapon.

The court heard on March 20 this year De Kock visited SSAA Townsville Branch shooting range to test his gun suppressor.

Police prosecutor Mark Fenlon told the court on March 25 police received intelligence De Kock was in possession of the silencer.

On May 6 a search warrant was conducted at De Kock’s home and he was questioned.

Mr Fenlon said De Kock told the police he had made the suppressor himself and knew it was illegal to possess the item.

“The defendant produced a category B rifle and police observed the construction at the end of the rifle had been modified,” he said.

“The defendant said he had modified the end of the rifle to attach the suppressor.”

De Kock told Magistrate Viviana Keegan that he was using the suppressor for two reasons.

“The first purpose was to reduce the recoil on this rifle which was vicious and it also harvests some of the kinetic energy of the propeller gas,” he said.

“The body language of the man (at the shooting range) made me realise I had breached the rules very badly so when I got home I put it through my saw cutter and cut it into four pieces.”

De Kock said he had been in trouble with his wife since he was charged.

“I have made a terrible mistake and to be quite honest, I don’t want to go through World War III again,” he said.

Ms Keegan told De Kock that modifying a weapon was dangerous.

“You may not have an ulterior purpose but imagine if someone had stolen the weapon,” she said.

De Kock was fined $500 and told Ms Keegan he would need time to pay it off as he was a pensioner.

No conviction was recorded.

I HAVE MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE AND TO BE QUITE HONEST, I DON’T WANT TO GO THROUGH WOLD WAR III AGAIN