A Bungaree woman has caught a man carrying a sawn-off shotgun out the front of her property on her doorbell camera.
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Details of the encounter, and others, were heard by County Court Judge John Smallwood as part of a plea hearing for a 25-year-old Wendouree man.
Judge Smallwood called sawn-off shotguns "nasty weapons".
"Everyone in the criminal fraternity knows that there is only one purpose for a sawn-off shotgun," Judge Smallwood said.
"They are nasty weapons... often used to threaten in stick-ups and burglaries."
The man, Brandon Wilson, appeared at the County Court in Ballarat on November 30 to plead guilty to weapons charges over the incident, and several other occasions where he was caught travelling Ballarat with the weapon.
The first offence Wilson pled to occurred at 4.30pm on January 18, 2022, when police attended a Wendouree address in relation to a missing persons enquiry.
When police arrived at the address they found Wilson standing next to a Mazda CX-5 with what appeared to be hand-made registration plates.
Wilson told the officers the car belonged to a "mate" and allowed them to search inside.
Police found a backpack in the car with a sawn-off shotgun inside, with the three serial numbers erased. Wilson was served with a firearms prohibition order on the day.
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Wilson was later seen carrying a sawn-off shotgun out the front of a Bungaree property at about 4.15am on October 22, 2022.
The female occupant of the home captured Wilson, along with an associate, out the front of the house carrying the gun and calling her name for her to come outside.
The woman refused to make a statement to the police, however handed over the CCTV footage.
Wilson also faced charges of breaching a bail curfew for the early morning incursion.
Wilson was again spotted by police driving in a Holden Commodore in the Wendouree area, who looked to arrest him in relation to outstanding warrants.
He was followed by officers to an address in Wendouree, after which police conducted a search of the property and arrested Wilson.
A sawn-off shotgun was found underneath the driver's seat, two rounds of ammunition were found in the centre console and stolen identification cards, stolen power tools and GHB were found inside car.
The court heard Wilson had an early history of drug use, and looked to relocated from Ballarat once released from prison.
"It is serious, and has to attract a custodial sentence, a significant custodial sentence," Judge Smallwood said.
Wilson was given a 410 day prison sentence, with 402 recognised as being served.
