WHEN police noticed a driver's hands shaking after they pulled over a South Australia-registered car at Narrandera in April they thought it was worthwhile searching the vehicle.
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Asked about a particular black bag seen in the back of the car, a passenger - 52-year-old Brett Douglas Beard - said it was his and then revealed what it contained.
"Well, if you are gonna look, a sawn-off (rifle) and ammo," Beard said, according to police facts tendered to Wagga Local Court.
The bag contained a shortened .22 rifle with a safety round in the breech and several magazines of ammunition.
Beard, of Warradale in South Australia, has pleaded guilty to possessing a shortened firearm, not keeping a firearm safely, possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing ammunition without a licence.
Beard told police he kept the gun for protection because of the area in which he lived and said he had shortened the weapon with a handsaw to make it easier to carry around.
He said the safety round was kept in the breech in case he needed to fire a warning shot.
According to police, Beard told them at the time he was stopped that he was on his way to Sydney to see his ex-wife and recover property and had concerns about what might happen when he arrived.
Magistrate Megan Greenwood yesterday ordered a pre-sentence report before sentencing Beard on October 4.
Police have withdrawn charges of shortening a firearm and possessing a loaded firearm in a public place.