A man who was asked to temporarily store a sawn-off rifle believed the pair who gave him the firearm when they told him they had found it in the bush, Newcastle District Court has heard.
But the men who asked Shanan Cunliffe to take custody of the gun were soon arrested over a spate of violent armed hold-ups across Lake Macquarie.
Judge Roy Ellis said in court on Monday he did not suggest that Cunliffe knew about the crimes Braiden and Frederick Tighe had committed, but he questioned how the 37-year-old could have believed that such a weapon was simply found in the bush.
Cunliffe was convicted on Monday of one count of possessing a shortened firearm and sentenced to an 18-month Intensive Corrections Order - essentially a jail term served in the community.
The court heard that Cunliffe was approached by Braiden and Frederick Tighe - a pair of cousins who have pleaded guilty to a string of armed robberies at clubs across Lake Macquarie - in June, 2019. They asked to borrow a bag to take trail bike riding. but when they returned the backpack contained a shortened .22 calibre rifle and ammunition.
They told Cunliffe they had found the weapon in the bush and asked him to store it for a few days, paying him at least $100 for the favour.
But when the pair had not returned to collect the gun about a month later, Cunliffe handed it in to police and was charged.
In court on Monday, Judge Ellis said he did not believe Cunliffe knew anything about the Tighes' hold-ups when he agreed to take the gun.
But he said the type of weapon should have caused concern because shortened firearms had "an obvious purpose".
"It's difficult to accept he was naive enough to believe [what he was told] was the truth," Judge Ellis said.
The court heard that Cunliffe did not have a prior criminal history and was unlikely to re-offend.
The sentencing came after Judge Ellis adjourned Braiden and Frederick Tighe's case to December 16.
The Tighes were each due to be sentenced on Monday, but delays in medical reports meant a further adjournment. The pair pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges related to a three-month spree of violent armed robberies of licensed venues in 2019. They had stolen more than $60,000 by the time they were arrested in June last year.
Toronto Country Club was targeted twice, Rathmines Bowling Club was held-up once and Boolaroo Bowling Club was robbed three time - twice in four hours. On different occasions, they were armed with a metal pole, claw hammer and a carving knife.
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