IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA
AT Melbourne
CRIMINAL DIVISION	 Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication	
GENERAL LIST
Case No. CR-24-00488
Indictment No. N12793118

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS		
		
v		
		
PAUL LOBOSCO		

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE HOGAN	
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne	
DATE OF PLEA HEARING:	29 July 2024	
DATE OF SENTENCE:	31 July 2024	
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Lobosco	
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2024] VCC 1166		

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:	One charge of unauthorised possession of traffickable quantity of firearms and one charge of possession of a drug of dependence –Summary charges of possessing cartridge ammunition, four imitation firearms, prohibited weapons and an unauthorised explosive
Catchwords: 	45-year-old offender - decline in mental health after the sudden death of a family member – increase in methylamphetamine usage - no previous engagement in counselling services - limbs 5 and 6 of Verdins satisfied – good prospects of rehabilitation
Legislation Cited:	Dangerous Goods Act 1985
Cases Cited:	R v Verdins [2007] VSCA 62, DPP v McKinley [2024] VCC 1142
Sentence:	On Charges 1 and Summary Charge 13: 11 months imprisonment with a Community Correction Order of 3 years.
s6AAA on Charge 1 and Summary Charge 13: 3.5 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 2 years.   

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APPEARANCES:
	Counsel	Solicitors	
For the DPP	At Plea: Mr M Roper
At Sentence: Mr S Kaiser	Solicitor of the Office of
Public Prosecutions	
			
For the Accused	Mr S Kelly	Stary Norton Halphen	

HER HONOUR:

1	Paul Lobosco, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing a traffickable quantity of firearms which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.  
2	You have also pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing a drug of dependence, methylamphetamine.  Given that the quantity of methylamphetamine weighed less than one gram, and I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that this offence was not committed by you for any purpose relating to trafficking in that drug of dependence, the maximum penalty is not more than 30 penalty units or one years’ imprisonment or both.
3	In addition to the two charges on the indictment you have consented to four summary charges being uplifted from the Magistrates’ Court, to be heard in the County Court, and have pleaded guilty to those charges.  They are as follows:
(a)	Charge 12, possessing cartridge ammunition, which carries a maximum penalty of 40 penalty units.
(b)	Charge 13, possessing four imitation firearms.  This is a rolled-up charge, for which the maximum penalty is two years’ imprisonment or 240 penalty units.
(c)	Charge 16, possessing a prohibited weapon, namely nun-chucks, a miniature crossbow and an extendable baton.  This is a rolled-up charge which carries a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment or 240 penalty units.
(d)	Charge 18, possessing explosives (fireworks and firecrackers), for which the maximum penalty is 100 penalty units.
4	The circumstances of your offending are contained in the Summary of Prosecution Opening on Plea.  All of the weapons which are the subject of Charge 1 and, indeed, the cartridge ammunition, imitation firearms, prohibited weapons and fireworks which are the subject of the summary charges 12, 13, 16 and 18, are items which you had told police had been in the possession of your uncle, Vincenzo Lobosco. He had died suddenly on 25 June 2022, after having been assaulted, but who had also been a long-term abuser of illicit drugs (in particular, a heroin addict) and who was also suffering mesothelioma.  You were close to your uncle and his death came as a shock to you.  A Coronial Inquiry held on 24 June 2024 found on the balance of probabilities that your uncle had been physically struck with an object by one Mr Heaney causing injuries to his forehead, upper chest and neck region, in the course of an altercation.  The Coroner found that his death occurred in the context of the physical struggle which resulted in these injuries, but, also, his drug use and mesothelioma, and was unable to quantify the relative contribution of any of these three causes to his death.  Thus, the finding was one that he died from the impacts of the underlying mesothelioma, drug use and the physical struggle.
5	One week after your uncle’s death, police asked you to clear out all his possessions from the rented accommodation where your uncle and his 15-year-old son had been living.  You did so and transported many of his possessions to a warehouse in Broadmeadows, which was owned by yourself and your long-term partner. At this warehouse, you had set up a workshop for the purpose of conducting your business as a motor mechanic, servicing vehicles for members of the public.  In the course of police investigating trafficking in drugs and firearms, on 1 December 2023, they executed a Search Warrant at the Broadmeadows warehouse and, during that search, all of the items which are the subject of Charges 1 and 2 on the indictment, and the four Summary Charges were located.
6	Charge 1 on the Indictment, possessing a traffickable quantity of firearms represents the most serious offending by you. It comprises a total of 12 firearms, together with metal cylinder barrels believed to be firearm parts: 
(a)	Three of the firearms found by police were loaded. One Smith & Wesson revolver contained six rounds of .45 calibre ammunition within it, and one British Bulldog revolver, contained 6 rounds of .38 calibre ammunition. Both of these revolvers were wrapped in a white and grey “Best and Less” plastic bag inside a cardboard box, which was against a wall to the left of a desk in the office at the warehouse. The top of the cardboard box was open when police executed the search warrant albeit that the revolvers were not immediately evident within. A third loaded firearm, namely, a pen pistol, which contained one round of .22 calibre ammunition. It was located on the floor of the office. 
(b)	One double barrel shotgun, one homemade air rifle, and one “Jelly” brand air rifle were located in a red metal cabinet in the warehouse beneath a false bottom in the cabinet. Within the false bottom of the cabinet, the shotgun appears to be wrapped in bubble wrap with green tape around it and the two rifles appear to be within a black case. 
(c)	One white .22 calibre bolt action rifle inside a cloth bag was located underneath an oven at the warehouse. In that same location, inside a red “Sports Co” bag, were two homemade handguns in a plastic ziplock bag, one homemade revolver in a ziplock bag, and one starter pistol. 
(d)	A black imitation firearm in a black case was located in the top middle drawer of the desk in the office. Also in the office, behind a blue tool chest was one sawn off section of a shotgun barrel. 
7	Summary charge 12, possessing cartridge ammunition, comprises, not only the rounds of ammunition found in the two revolvers and pen pistol, but a considerable assortment of cartridge ammunition, shotgun shells, .3 calibre ammunition rounds and other assorted ammunition found in a variety of bags on the floor of the office, the top left drawer of the desk in the office, in the back of a red Ford registered number ZPP566 parked in the warehouse, and inside and underneath the oven at the warehouse, to which I have previously referred.
8	Summary charge 13, comprises possession of four imitation firearms. One was in a black case on the floor of the office at the warehouse and three others were in a cloth bag (which also contained assorted cartridge ammunition) located underneath the afore-mentioned oven.
9	Summary charge 16, possessing prohibited weapons, comprises nun-chucks (which were hanging above the wall of the desk in the office), a black miniature crossbow (which was within the bottom right drawer of the desk in the office), and a black extendable baton with a sheath (which was in the top left drawer of the desk in the office).
10	Summary Charge 18, storage of fireworks and firecrackers without the approval of the appropriate authority, comprises two aerial shellfire works, which were in the bottom drawer of the desk of the office.
11	You are presently aged 45 years, having been born in March 1979.  You come before the Court with only one prior court appearance in relation to a minor unrelated matter when you were aged nineteen years of age and for which you were given an adjourned undertaking without conviction.
12	In a plea on your behalf by Mr Kelly, the Court was told that you grew up in Coburg and Fawkner.  You are the oldest of your parents’ four children and have a younger sister and two younger brothers.  Your counsel described you as having had tensions with your parents, but they remain supportive of you and are willing to provide you with accommodation when you are released from custody, where your sister, Vanessa Lobosco, to whom you are close, also resides. I here interpolate that your counsel has today advised that court that this arrangement is not currently possible as there is an Intervention Order in place with your partner and your two children as protected persons, and your two children are cared for at your parents house during the school week.  I indicated that proposed alternative accommodation with Ms Sara Sorbello is not appropriate, given that she was a user of illicit drugs at the time of your offending. 
13	You completed VCE at Coburg High School, following which you undertook an apprenticeship as a motor mechanic for four years.  After completing the apprenticeship, you then worked for fourteen years as a mechanic for Kmart Tyre and Auto, providing mechanical services to members of the public and later becoming a workshop manager. Up until the time you were arrested and remanded in custody for this offending on 1 December 2023, you had been in a long-term relationship with your partner, with whom you have two children, for over 20 years.  
14	Mr Kelly told the Court that, in 2019, you decided to set up your own business as a motor mechanic.  You were renting a factory, but its owner sold the factory and, in 2020, you and your partner purchased outright the warehouse in Broadmeadows, out of which you ran your business.  Your counsel stated that this was a successful business undertaking general mechanical repairs for members of the public.  You worked on your own and did not have any employees.  
15	Mr Kelly stated that you were very close to your uncle, Vincenzo Lobosco, who lived in St Albans.  As previously mentioned, he is a long-term heroin addict, who has had more than his fair share of contact with the criminal justice system for dishonesty, driving and drug-related offending.  Although you apparently did not know about your uncle’s condition of mesothelioma, you were concerned about him, as he was apparently vulnerable in a drug milieu, and you were in the process of constructing an apartment or townhouse on top of the warehouse so that your uncle and his 15-year-old son could live comfortably and securely.  This was the situation when your uncle died very suddenly following the assault at his home on 25 June 2022.  
16	The Court was told that you had engaged in recreational use of methylamphetamine on weekends prior to your uncle’s death. You were very distressed by the circumstances of his death and went into a state of serious mental health decline. Within a short time, you became a daily user of methylamphetamine.  Mr Kelly stated that you effectively ceased to work over the period of eighteen months, from the time your uncle died until you were arrested on 1 December 2023.  He told the Court that you would leave your family home in the morning to go to your workshop in order to keep up a pretence of working, and return to your family home at the end of the day, but you simply did not do anything productive and spiralled down into increasing drug use, which, at the time of your arrest, apparently amount to approximately 1 gram of methamphetamine per day.  During this time, you formed some sort of ill-defined relationship with a Ms Sara Sorbello, who was also a drug user, and you gave her a key to the warehouse so that she could stay there and be safe.  Indeed, she was at the premises at the time police executed the search warrant.
17	Tendered on your behalf, was a psychological assessment conducted of you on 15 June 2024 by Ms Rebecca Fakhri, psychologist with Ferrari Consulting Group Pty Ltd.  The assessment was embodied in a report dated 4 July 2024.  The report does not detail whether the author saw you personally or via video link, or for what period of time.  It is unnecessarily lengthy, running to some fourteen pages and padded out with a great deal of generic information which is not related specifically to you.  Ms Fakhri only administered an abbreviated form of the Weschler Intelligence Test, much less the full test, yet opined that you are of low-average intelligence, “consistent with [his] attained education level”.  Your education level, I note, to be Year 12, followed by the successful completion of a four-year apprenticeship as a motor mechanic, followed by a full and consistent work history as a motor mechanic over a couple of decades up until your uncle’s untimely death.  Notwithstanding these matters, Ms Fakhri, on the final page of her report stated, “Mr Lobosco has long-term unemployment, and a lack of routine and structure, resulting in isolation and boredom”.  She then went on to contradict her own statement by stating, “[He has] a history of steady employment and it is inferred that with the absence of substances, he would be able to return to his business or similar business ventures”.  
18	Every single test administered to you by Ms Fakhri was “a brief tool” or “a self-report questionnaire”.  In particular, those relating to your report of symptoms of depression and anxiety were confined to “over the past fortnight”, in a context where clearly, you had an upcoming plea hearing for serious offending.  It would be entirely understandable that one might be depressed and anxious in your situation, at least partly in reaction to your legal predicament, but Ms Fakhri does not seem to have acknowledged that impact on your mood. Rather, she concentrated upon a series of matters in your childhood relating to conflict with your parents, “sexual abuse” by a female cousin (who was, herself, a child in her teens at the time) inappropriately touching you twice, apparently resulting, in what she described based upon your self-report, as being “complex PTSD”. Nowhere did Ms Fakhri give content to any of the alleged symptoms of this condition to make it plain how they allegedly arose from your “described traumatic experiences”.  
19	Indeed, it is difficult to reconcile her opinion that you have Complex PTSD related to such “traumatic experiences” in the light of the history which she records from you, namely, that your instructed that “[you were] living a typical and happy life prior to [your] paternal uncle who [you] shared a close relationship with, passing away.” Ms Fakhri went on to suggest that you may have a diagnosis of adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, but acknowledged the limitations of the self-report questionnaire on that particular diagnosis.  On another fifteen-item self-report screening instrument, she suggested that you may have a Bipolar Disorder, as you suggested that your father may have had one, and you endorsed twelve of the thirteen symptoms, and have reported significant changes in mood and impulsive and reckless behaviour. She did acknowledge, due to the overlapping nature of symptoms for ADHD and PTSD, further analysis of your symptoms is necessary. 
20	I find much of Ms Fakhri’s report to be problematic. She acknowledges that you have drug-use disorders, having commenced using cannabis at the age of sixteen and continued to smoke it daily for approximately ten years, and at the same time engaged in binge-alcohol consumption, as well as having tried cocaine, heroin, dimethyltryptamine and ecstasy (albeit that you denied problematic usage). She noted that you admitted having tried methylamphetamine at the age of twenty and, in the last five years, had smoked it more regularly, and then, from June 2022 escalated your usage to 1 gram per day and had not had any period of abstinence in the last five years.  In spite of this history, there does not seem to be any consideration by Ms Fakhri that your description of yourself as “getting really happy and excited” and enjoying risk-taking behaviours and engaging in gambling (including, on one occasion, losing $5,000 in one night) may have been related to your substance abuse, rather than being due to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Bipolar Disorder.  That there may be a causal nexus between such behaviour and your substance abuse seems all the more likely given that you had been in a long-term relationship during which you were not using drugs and were working regularly.
21	Unfortunately, this is not the first occasion in which I have found deficiencies in a report by Ms Fakhri. Apart from anything else, Ms Fakhri needs to understand that it is totally inappropriate for her to be expressing a conclusion on matters of law.  I refer, in particular, to her following opinion:
“With regards to Verdins principles (R v Verdins [2007] VSCA 102), it is my professional opinion that limbs 5 and 6 would be enlivened by Mr Lobosco’s conditions.  … .”
It is the role of an independent expert to present a report which details a history, symptoms and diagnosis, but not to make conclusions of law, which are the province of the Court.  I find Ms Fakhri’s report to be replete with unhelpful information of a generic nature, a lack of systematic recording of the specific context of symptoms and their aetiology, and, generally, to have an adversarial tenor.    
22	It is noteworthy that Ms Fakhri was assessing you in the context of your long-term partner having ceased to have contact with you and you having no contact with your two daughters since you were taken into custody, and also with your plea hearing and sentencing looming.  While I accept that you do suffer from anxiety and depression to which the distress over your uncle’s death is undoubtedly a contributing factor, and that you, may also, have related symptoms of an Adjustment Disorder, I find that your legal predicament and estrangement from your partner and children are most likely significant contributing factors to your anxiety and depression at the present time.  
23	You have a significant stimulant use disorder, which, in combination with your anxiety and depression, effectively lead to you ceasing work for a period of eighteen months before you were taken into custody.  Thus, while I accept that your anxiety and depression, and withdrawal from methylamphetamine, make time in custody more onerous than for a prisoner without such problem, and there is some risk that your mental state, by way of anxiety and depression may worsen if you remain in custody, I regard the bulk of Ms Fakhri’s diagnoses as overblown and not properly justified. I note that the prosecution does not take issue with the applicability of Verdins’ principles in relation to your experience in custody.
24	Mr Lobosco, illicit possession of firearms in our community is a problem, particularly when they are associated with people who use drugs, as you did.  There is something rather puzzling about a law-abiding person like yourself deciding to keep firearms, which you say belonged to your now-deceased uncle.  The only evidence as to the source of the firearms found in your warehouse comes from yourself.  However, given your uncle’s lengthy criminal history of drug-related crimes, for which he had served a number of sentences of imprisonment, and that those offences include, among other things, trafficking in illicit drugs and unlawful possession of weapons, I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities, that your uncle had been living a life in which he was submerged in some form of drug milieu, and that the weapons did come from his house.  
25	Why you kept them and distributed them at various places around your warehouse is completely unexplained.  To possess so many weapons is troubling, however, the prosecution has conceded that there is no evidence that you had trafficked in them in any way.  In mitigation of your offending, I take into account that, apart from yourself, the only person who had access to the warehouse where the weapons were located, was your fellow drug addict, Ms Sara Sorbello.  Although the only weapon which was in readily-visible sight was the pistol pen on the floor of your office near the desk, it does not bare thinking about what might have occurred had Ms Sorbello, in a drug-affected state, come across it, or any of the other loaded weapons.  Your warehouse is an absolutely chaotic array of many things, including vehicles, tyres, various car parts, a boat, machines and a host of other equipment.  However, had Ms Sorbello taken it upon herself to fossick in the open cardboard box, which contained the loaded Smith & Wesson and British Bulldog revolvers, a potential tragedy could have occurred.  I do take into account that the other weapons were not so easily detectable and reasonably-well hidden, albeit obviously not securely stored as they are required by law and, obviously, you were not licensed to be in possession of any of the weapons, in the first place. Subject to those concerns, I accept that your warehouse appears to have been a reasonably secure industrial building within a relatively high secure fence and gate and, given the shambolic mess inside, chances of an intruder easily coming upon these weapons or ammunition which had been secured in various different places by you would seem to be relatively slight. However, the fact that you were obviously a regular used of methylamphetamine means that you must have been sourcing it illegally. Should any persons supplying your with illicit drugs have found their way into your warehouse and taken possession of any of the firearms, the consequences for the community could have been very severe 
26	It is in your favour that you made admissions to police as soon as you were interviewed.  The charges were filed at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 2 December 2023 and by 26 February 2024 you had indicated your intention to plead guilty, albeit, at that stage, you were hoping that the matter would remain in the summary jurisdiction.  When your application for summary jurisdiction was refused on 28 March 2024, the matter proceeded by way of straight hand-up brief for a plea hearing in the County Court.  The utilitarian value of your plea is high, and I accept that you are truly remorseful for your wrongdoing.  A letter from your sister, Vanessa, refers to your remorse and your strong commitment to overcoming your challenges in relation to drug use and mental health issues.
27	Another thoughtful reference from an uncle, Morris Del Monte, states that he has known you all your life and he was part of the extended family who lived with you for the first seven years of your life, so you regarded him as an older brother figure.  He refers to you as having been an inquisitive child who was captivated by how mechanical objects worked and had a natural talent for dismantling and re-assembling things, and you displayed a keen intellect, particularly excelling in mathematics at school, and then found your career as a motor mechanic.  He noted that you had progressed to the role of workshop manager at Kmart Tyres and Auto and were successful when you launched your own business.  He described you as “a beacon of compassion, often offering [your] services without charge to those facing financial hardship”.  He noted that you had suffered significant personal losses by the passing of your grandparents to whom you were close as you had lived with them during childhood, and, more recently, your uncle in tragic circumstances, which had caused you deep distress and to adopt inappropriate coping mechanisms by turning to drugs.  He described you as genuinely remorseful and seeking forgiveness, and states you come from a loving and supportive family, who has never been associated with criminal activities.
28	Your counsel, Mr Kelly, stated that you had grown up with an entrenched attitude that mental health issues, particularly for men, were somehow not real and should not be the subject of any particular focus. I appreciate that this can be the case with some people. However, on the totality of the material before the court, it seems to me that you have behaved in an immature fashion. It is not at all clear why you decided to embark upon methylamphetamine use in the first instance, particularly given that you appear to have had a stable relationship with your partner and two children. Also, you and your partner had each been successful in your respective areas of employment and apparently enjoyed financial security in that you owned your own home, as well as the warehouse. 
29	It is not entirely clear to the court how your uncle Vincenzo became your “best friend and father figure”, as described in Ms Fakhri’s report,  given that he had such a lengthy criminal history, which involved a number of terms of imprisonment. Nevertheless, I have accepted that you were close to him and deeply impacted by his death. 
30	Your explanation for retaining the firearms and statement that you had not planned what you intended to do with them is not very convincing. However, as mentioned, the prosecution has conceded that there is no evidence that you had trafficked in firearms. It is fortunate for you, and for the community, that the police diligently tracked down all the firearms and ammunition in your possession. So often, serious criminal activity is associated with the use of firearms. It is imperative that our society be protected from people unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition, and not storing them appropriately. 
31	The seriousness of Charge 1 on the indictment is reflected in the maximum penalty which applies to it, namely, 10 years imprisonment. In sentencing for such an offence, denunciation and general deterrence must be the predominant sentencing principles, along with protection of the community. General deterrence means that, in sentencing you, this court must send a message to others who might be minded to take possession of firearms unlawfully (particularly if they are in traffickable quantities) that they will be appropriately punished, most likely by a term of imprisonment. 
32	I consider that a term of imprisonment is warranted in your case, particularly given the quantity of firearms involved and the fact that three of them which were loaded were not in any way securely stored. It was conceded by your counsel that a term of imprisonment should apply. However, on the material before me I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that your offending in relation to the firearms, ammunition and other controlled weapons is more consistent with a foolhardy attitude born of drug abuse and associated dysfunction rather than sinister intentions. In these circumstances, I consider that the dominant sentencing principles can be served by a combination sentence of a term of imprisonment of less than one year together with a Community Correction Order. The prosecutor, Mr Roper, conceded that, in all the circumstances, such a disposition is within range. In arriving at the conclusion that such a disposition is appropriate, I have taken into account your former good character, early and remorseful pleas of guilty, the impact of your depression and anxiety whilst in custody and, also that you have gained some degree of insight into your psychological and drug abuse since you were remanded in custody on 1 December 2023. 
33	You have utilised your time on remand in a positive way by working as a pastry chef in the kitchen at Fulham Correctional Centre from 8:30AM to 2:30PM each day. You told the court that you try to keep to yourself and keep yourself busy and, when not engaged in your work as a pastry chef, you are undertaking study via Kangan institute. Tendered as Exhibit “2” was a Certificate II in Work and Vocational Pathways (workplace safety arrangements and preparing simple budgets) and a Certificate III in Civil Construction (Traffick Control and Implementation of Traffick Management Plans), together with a record of your current enrolment in a Certificate II in Engineering, with an indication that, for the first half of the year, you have achieved competency in this subject. Further, the court was told that, for some months now, you have been attending weekly meetings of Narcotics Anonymous and find that group environment to be helpful in understanding and dealing with your addiction to illicit drugs. In my view, these matters indicate positive prospects for rehabilitation, albeit, that I consider that formal drug education courses are necessary to assist you. You really need to be able to engage with drug education and psychological counselling, as it is only relatively recently that you have ceased taking methylamphetamine. It is the experience of courts that people often come out of custody thinking that they are “cured”, but addiction is a very complex psychological condition and the path to rehabilitation can be a long and difficult one. Further, if you are serious about wanting to rehabilitate your relationship with your partner and your children, you need to be sincerely committed to rehabilitating yourself from illicit drug use, as well as being open to counselling for depression and anxiety. 
34	On Charge 1 on the indictment and summary charge 13, I propose to convict you and order you to be imprisoned for an aggregate term of 11 months, as well as to undertake a Community Correction Order for a period of 3 years. 
35	The proposed core terms of the Order are as follows:
(a)	that you must not commit, whether in or outside Victoria during the period of the Order, an offence punishable by imprisonment.
(b)	that you must comply with any obligation or requirement prescribed by the Regulations;
(c)	that you must report to and receive visits from the Secretary during the period of the Order;
(d)	that you must report to the Community Corrections Centre specified in the Order within two clear working days after the Order comes into force. This would be within 2 days of you being released from custody;
(e)	that you must notify the Secretary of any change of address or employment within two clear working days after the change;
(f)	that you must not leave Victoria, except with the permission granted either generally or in relation to a particular case by the Secretary;
(g)	that you must comply with any direction given by the Secretary that is necessary for the Secretary to give to ensure that you comply with the Order.
36	In addition, the proposed special conditions of the Community Correction Order are that:
(a)	you must be under the supervision of a Community Corrections officer for a period of three years;
(b)	you must undergo assessment and treatment for mental health,
(c)	you must undergo assessment and treatment for drug abuse
(d)	you must undertake 200 hours of unpaid community work.
37	Pursuant to s s48CA of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic)(‘Sentencing Act’), I would propose to order that any hours of rehabilitative treatment undertaken by you may be offset against the obligation to perform 200 hours of unpaid community work.
38	Mr Lobosco, you must understand that I cannot make a Community Correction Order unless you consent to it. Do you consent to an order with the terms and conditions which I have just read out?
39	PRISONER: Yes, I do. 
40	HER HONOUR: Mr Lobosco, you must understand that, if during the period of the Community Correction order, you breach it by offending which carries a term of imprisonment or by non-compliance with any of the terms or conditions, you will be most likely charged with contravention of the order and brought before the court for such contravention. Should that occur, you may well face a situation where the court will cancel the Community Correction Order and resentence you to a further term of imprisonment. You should bear in mind that contravention of a Community Correction Order, is, itself, a criminal offence which carries a maximum penalty of 3 months imprisonment. Do you understand what I have just said?
41	PRISONER: Yes, I do. 
42	HER HONOUR: Accordingly, on Charge 1, possessing a traffickable quantity of firearms, and, and Summary Charge 13, possessing four imitation firearms, you are convicted and sentenced to an aggregate sentence of 11 months imprisonment and a 3-year Community Correction Order with terms and conditions I have previously indicated. 
43	A declare a period of pre-sentence detention of 244 days to be time reckoned as already served under the sentence imposed this day.
44	Pursuant to s6AAA Sentencing Act, I state, had it not been for your pleas of guilty, the total effective sentence imposed on Charge 1 on the indictment and Summary Charge 13 would have been an aggregate sentence of 3 and a half years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 2 years. 
45	On Charge 2 on the indictment, possession of a drug of dependence, you are convicted and fined the sum of $500. 
46	On summary charge 12, possessing cartridge ammunition, you are convicted and fine $800.
47	On summary charge 16, possessing prohibited weapons, you are convicted and fined $500. 
48	On summary charge 18, possessing fireworks, you are convicted and fined $100. 
49	I will grant a stay of 6 months on payment of the fines imposed on summary charges 12, 16 and 18. 
50	As you have been convicted of Charge 1 on the indictment and Summary Charges 12, 13 and 16, and upon being satisfied that the property referred to in the Schedule is “tainted property”, the Court orders pursuant to s 151 of the Firearms Act 1996 (Vic) that the property referred to in the Schedule be forfeited to the Minister.  The property in the schedule relates to all firearms, ammunition and other weapons and various other items seized by police at the warehouse on 1 December 2023. 
51	Upon your conviction on Charge 2 on the indictment, possession of methylamphetamine, and Summary Charge 18, possession of fireworks, and upon being satisfied that the property referred to in the Schedule is any other property that is of negligible value that was used, or was intended to be used, in, or in connection with, the commission of the offence or was derived or realised, directly or indirectly, by you, from the commission of the offence. The Court orders, pursuant to section 78(1) of the Confiscation Act 1997, the forfeiture to the State of the property referred to in the Schedule, and I further direct that it be placed in the custody of the Chief Commissioner of Police and be held by him until 28 days from this date or the conclusion of any appeal proceedings where it may be tested and/or analysed and then destroyed. The property in the Schedule is the methylamphetamine and fireworks seized by police at the warehouse on 1 December 2023.