A Vietnam veteran has been branded a "calculating criminal" by a magistrate sentencing him for a string of "absolutely rank" firearms offences.
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Peter Howard Dettmann, a 76-year-old Tingha man, appeared before Inverell Local Court on Thursday, following an investigation set in motion by Australian Border Force (ABF) in 2021.
He faced six charges, including possession of an unregistered firearm, two counts of possessing unauthorised firearms, possess or use prohibited firearm without permit - not firearm or pistol, not keeping firearm safely, and not keep firearm safely - not pistol/firearm.
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Police facts tendered to court read that in August, the ABF intercepted two parcels at the International mail sorting centre, where, upon x-ray examination, they found silencers designed to fit firearms - declared prohibited weapons.
Taking carriage of the investigation, NSW Police discovered that Dettmann had a history of "like financial transactions". They noted he had seven guns registered to his name, with no prior "adverse licence interactions".
On September 4, the court heard that police went to his Tingha home and found the house unlocked, with no-one at home. Fearing for his welfare - given his age and extensive medical history - officers entered the house but found it empty.
What they did find, were three firearms learning against an unlocked gun safe - with the key in the door - and large amounts of ammunition scattered on top of the safe, the kitchen, and main bedroom.
They left and secured the home, and when Dettmann came home, he granted them access. Officers found eight firearms - two fitted with silencers in the unlocked safe - and 13 silencers placed in different locations throughout the house.
The court was told Dettmann said he was "just slack", and couldn't say why he hadn't adhered to requirements. He said he'd been buying the silencers online for years.
Being sold as oil and fuel filters, he said he knew what they were and converted them himself.
He told officers he wanted to "shoot and not hear anything".
In his sentencing assessment report, parts of which were read aloud in the courtroom, Dettmann said: "I ordered one to see if I could get it through customs".
"I didn't realise they were such a no-no," he said. "I could shoot rabbits off the back verandah and no-one would get upset and call the police."
Dettmann's legal representative, Allan Kemp, said his client "didn't want to disturb his neighbours" and that he "grew up in a different time".
References submitted to court outlined how Dettmann had fought in the Battle of Long Tan, where his unit had been commended for significant service. He had no criminal history.
Given his professed ignorance of the severity of owning a silencer, plus his wartime service, Mr Kemp submitted that his client should not receive a jail sentence.
"On what basis?" Magistrate Prowse asked, saying that owning just one silencer put someone at risk of 14 years imprisonment.
Magistrate Prowse disagreed with Mr Kemp's submissions and every one of Dettmann's statements, calling it "unsustainable drivel".
He called Dettman's actions - "offence, after offence, after offence, after offence" - a "contemptuous, flagrant and deceptive breach of the law".
"I, too, grew up in a different time... so let's not beat about the bush here," he said.
"There are many large rocks in Tingha, and I'd like to know which one he was living under."
Mr Kemp submitted that his client would suffer financially with the destruction of the firearm material, but Magistrate Prowse interjected, saying that was "laughable".
"That's like saying getaway car drivers suffer financially after the car is taken and destroyed... like cannabis growers suffering financial loss with all the money they spent on seed and water."
When sentencing Dettmann, Magistrate Prowse listed off all of the factors in his favour: his early plea of guilty, his clean record, his national service, and valued service to someone in the community.
"All of these good things... then it turns out you are a calculating criminal.
"You knew you had to keep them locked up and keep them safe.
"I grew up when you could shoot tins off the fence... shoot rabbits willy-nilly... and then 1996 [Port Arthur Massacre] came along, and then, and then, and then - it goes on.
"You were living in Tingha with guns strewn about the place, two with silencers... it's absolutely staggering.
"A criminal would have wet his or her trousers... would've been salivating".
He sentenced Dettman to a 32-month intensive corrections order - prison time to be served in the community - and fined him $3000. All firearms were ordered to be destroyed.
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