WEAPONS, EXPLOSIVES FOUND IN MAN’S BEDROOM

HOMEMADE weapons – including an air gun, silencer, body armour and explosives – were found at the house of Townsville man Tony Lee O’keefe.

O’keefe, 22, was sentenced in Townsville Magistrates Court on August 3.

Standing beside his lawyer, he sighed and mumbled as he pleaded guilty to 16 charges relating to possessing and manufacturing explosives and weapons, and possessing dangerous drugs.

Magistrate Ross Mack, frustrated with O’keefe speaking out of turn and his slow responses, told O’keefe to “sit down and be quiet”.

Police Prosecutor Senior Sergeant Felicity Nalder said police searched a property where O’keefe lived on June 18, 2020. They found a manufactured air gun, compressed air cylinders, high pressure hoses and an improvised silencer.

Police also found two notebooks with sketches of the weapons in O’keefe’s bedroom.

Inside one of the notebooks, O’keefe had written he had tried to make guns for 10 years, and that all attempts had “failed” because of his “low intelligence”.

In some of the images, the silencer was pictured attached to a rifle.

A large amount of potassium sulfate, a fine dark grey “propellant powder”, a number of “electric squibs”, empty shotgun cartridges, and a blasting cap detonator were also found.

Police also found four cannabis seeds and four vials of testosterone, along with an envelope containing seeds labelled “Tasmanian blue opium poppy”. Sergeant Nalder said fishing sinkers that were the “perfect fit” to go into the weapon were found, as well as improvised body armour – made with tape and a metal plate.

O’keefe also pleaded guilty to serious assault of a public officer and wilful damage, which occurred on a separate date.

Mr Mack said there was no proof O’keefe had planned to use the weapons.

“There’s no suggestion he was going to do anything with them, just manufacture them,” Mr Mack said.

“It’s dangerous, but he didn’t put it to use, and there was no suggestion he would put it toward a particular plan.”

But Sergeant Nalder said, despite there being no “plan” for O’keefe to use the weapons, these offences made the community nervous.

Mr Mack said according to O’keefe’s psychologist’s report, he held a fixation on manufacturing weapons.

O’keefe’s defence said he had autism, social anxiety and a drug-induced psychotic disorder, and held an “ongoing perceived need to protect himself”.

Mr Mack said there was a potential for “real harm” in these offences, but the “overwhelming factor” was O’keefe’s mental health.

O’keefe was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, wholly suspended for 18 months. He was ordered to pay a total of $1650 in fines.