A truckie found with numerous imitation guns, knuckle dusters, nunchucks and fireworks has had his unbelievable excuse rejected in court.
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Daniel Cook, 42, pleaded guilty to 14 charges in the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on December 7, 2023.
According to a police summary, members of New South Wales and Victoria Police raided Cook's Delacombe home on November 4, 2022.
During the search, they found multiple gel blaster imitation firearms, gel blaster ammunition, a gel blaster grenade, wooden nunchucks, a knuckle duster and a ceremonial dagger.
Gel blasters are realistic looking toy guns which shoot small gel balls.
They are illegal in every Australian state except Queensland.
Cook also told police he had several fireworks which were stored in his kitchen cupboard.
He was subsequently arrested and gave a "no comment" interview when questioned.
![Ballarat Law Courts where Daniel Cook pleaded guilty to 14 charges on December 7. Picture by Adam Trafford Ballarat Law Courts where Daniel Cook pleaded guilty to 14 charges on December 7. Picture by Adam Trafford](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/200884286/36f8dd5d-2946-43c1-a750-f1fe408bc722.jpg/r0_0_4543_3024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Defence lawyer Crystal Caruana said Cook had sub-let a room in his Delacombe property after his finances deteriorated during COVID-19.
A British man who had been living in Queensland and the Northern Territory moved in with Cook, and Ms Caruana said the contraband items belonged to the new tenant.
She said the man had then moved back to the United Kingdom, leaving the items with her client, who had only become aware of them months later.
Ms Caruana said Cook also had severe mental health issues, and was a "bit foggy" on the timeline of events, as he had suffered memory loss during treatment for his condition.
"He acknowledges he should have got rid of them [the weapons], but he wasn't sure what was going on after the tenant left," she said.
Magistrate Peter Reardon said it didn't sound believable, and he suspected the weapons belonged to Cook.
"I don't accept the explanation given to the court," he said.
"Without proper explanation, possession of such weapons has sinister overtones to it."
Magistrate Reardon said Cook was facing serious charges which could attract a prison term or a fine of up to $40,000, but he said the interstate truck driver was otherwise of good character, had difficult personal circumstances and was suffering from a mental health condition at the time of the offence.
Cook was convicted and fined $5000.