Gun dealer jailed for selling hundreds of weapons to underworld figures

Shane Simpson was arrested at his gun shop in April 2019.

A Port Kembla gun dealer who admitted to supplying almost 300 hand guns and pistols by placing them in plastic bags to be collected at the back of his shop has been sentenced to 13 years in jail.

Shane Simpson, 47, had told the Wollongong District Court that he sold the weapons to unknown persons over a six-year period because the lives of his family had been threated, over the phone and through letters.

The court heard the initial threat occurred in 2012, when a man showed Simpson a video of one of the guns he'd sold him being used in an execution-style shooting.

Simpson said consistent phone requests for illegal firearms began shortly after.

"We want pistols, two more tomorrow, and there's a bag for you."

Simpson claimed the supply of guns followed a strict pattern; at 2:00pm the day after receiving a phone call, he would place two or more handguns in a plastic bag and stash them inside the window of a derelict building across the road from his shop.

He would later collect a bag of cash, ranging from $1,000 to $6,000 per gun, never learning the identity of those who had been threatening his family.

'Consequences could have been horrific'

In sentencing, Judge Andrew Haesler said the consequences for the safety of the community through Simpson's actions were significant.

Ten of the illegally supplied firearms were used in serious underworld criminal activity, including a murder — the 266 remaining weapons have not been accounted for by police.

Judge Haesler said he had heard "nothing of substance" to explain why Simpson's offending continued for six years and why he never went to the police nor confided in anyone.

The judge said that as a professional arms dealer, Simpson "would be under no doubt" that the weapons were being used for criminal enterprises.

He said the trusted position of an arms dealer was therefore taken advantage of and the main reason he was enlisted into a criminal gun supply ring.

Simpson told police that he knew "in his heart what I've done was wrong" and that he had been "pushed and pulled for a long time" and was relieved when he was arrested.

He will be eligible for parole in 2027.