A MAN allegedly found with two semi-automatic pistols during a raid at Woodberry last week was on parole for firing a shotgun out of the passenger side window of a stolen car during a wild police pursuit at Belmont North in 2018.
Dwayne Eric Welsh, now 42, was arrested at a house in Segenhoe Street on Friday after Port Stephens-Hunter police raided the property in relation to a firearms prohibition order, which gives police wide-ranging powers to stop and search without a warrant.
During the search, police allegedly found a silver semi-automatic pistol and a small black semi-automatic pistol.
Welsh was arrested and taken to Maitland police station where he was charged with five firearm offences, including acquiring a pistol subject to a firearm prohibition order and two counts of firearm found at premises subject to prohibition order.
He appeared in Newcastle Bail Court on Saturday where he didn't enter any pleas but made an application to be released on conditional bail.
It was refused by a registrar and Welsh will next appear in Maitland Local Court on January 8.
Welsh was released from jail last year and was serving a lengthy parole period after he was jailed in 2019 for a maximum of six years and six months, with a non-parole period of four years for a number of charges, including discharging a firearm with intent to resist arrest.
"Just, we couldn't get away and I was, yeah, I was in a f---ed up state," Welsh told police after his arrest. "Uh, I didn't want to go to jail. I didn't want to get caught, so I let a shotgun go in the air."
Welsh had stolen a red Holden Commodore from outside a unit at Kurri Kurri the night before the pursuit.
And it was about 3.30am on April 19 when a police officer saw the red Commodore and a white Commodore driving along the Pacific Highway before both vehicles slammed on their brakes and turned into Dalrymple Street before veering into Old Belmont Road.
The police officer followed and attempted to pull over the red Commodore but it sped away, heading back out onto the Pacific Highway and launching over the median strip.
The police officer stuck with the car and gave chase as the red Commodore reached speeds of 120km/h. It was then that Welsh, seated in the passenger seat, pointed a shotgun out the window and discharged the gun straight into the air.
Welsh later told police he did not aim the gun at the police vehicle and his intention was to put a stop to the pursuit.
He was released from jail in February, 2023 and was serving a period on parole until August, 2025 when he was arrested on Friday.
