Dangerous Use Of Firearm Or Speargun – s 93H Crimes Act (NSW)
Facing charges of using or trespassing with a dangerous firearm or spear gun offence can result in prison with a criminal record. Our senior firearm lawyers specialise in getting firearm charges dropped early, and have proven their clients innocence in court to avoid prison and conviction for over 20 years. They know exactly how to maximise your chances at getting the best possible outcome.
Your Options in Court
You can only be found guilty to a charge of trespassing with, or dangerously using, a firearm or spear gun if police can prove each of the following elements to your charge:
If charged with s93H(1) trespassing with firearm or spear gun:
- You entered a building or land (not being a road); and
- You also had possession of a firearm, imitation firearm, speargun, or imitation speargun. An “imitation firearm or spear gun” is any object that substantially duplicates in appearance of a real firearm.
If charged with s93H(2) firing firearm or spear gun:
- You fired a firearm or spear gun; and
- You fired it in or into a building or land;
You will be found not guilty, and your charge dismissed if police fail to prove each of the above elements of your charge beyond reasonable doubt in court.
Defences to this charge
You will be Not Guilty if:
- Where charged with trespassing with the weapon: You didn’t know of the existence of the firearm or spear gun; or you were on a road at the time.
- Reasonable mistake of fact: you entered the land or building with the mistaken but reasonable belief you were allowed to.
- Mistaken identity: Where you have been wrongly identified.
- You were the owner or occupier of the land or building, or you had permission from the owner.
- Reasonable excuse or lawful purpose. i.e. Cultural event, work purpose, sporting event, or construction or building purposes; or you were a police officer acting within your duty.
- Duress or Necessity: Where you were forced or threatened to, or did it to prevent serious harm to someone.
Your charge will be dismissed in court if any one of the above defences apply to your case. Our specialist firearm lawyers are experts in complex firearm cases, and highly specialised in getting firearm charges dropped early. Having successfully achieved this many times over the years, speak to them now on how to strengthen your chances at convincing police to drop the charges early.
If you decide to plead guilty to dangerously using or trespassing with a firearm or spear gun offence, it’s critical to know the following on how to best prepare and present your case to avoid a criminal record or prison.
25% Discount on punishment
Pleading guilty to an offence of dangerous use of firearm or spear gun charge at the earliest time in your case will give you a 25% discount on your punishment. This will result in a better outcome with a lighter punishment.
The later a plea of guilty is entered, the less the discount becomes, which is why it’s critical to speak to an experienced firearms lawyer as early as possible.
Good character references
Gathering letters from a friend, family, charity, work and apology letter from you, expressing the main points, can allow the Judge reading it to give you a more lenient outcome with a better court result.
Each letter should comment on your remorse, shame, good character and insight into your understanding of the wrongness of what you did. Our senior lawyers will review each letter and guide you.
Negotiate to drop charges
An experienced firearm lawyer can carefully read the police evidence, find all the holes in it, then negotiate with police to drop or downgrade the charges at an early stage of your case. It’s important to approach police in the best way suited to your case.
Our senior lawyers have a proven success record of getting firearm charges dropped early for over 20 years on countless occasions.
Negotiate facts
The police set of facts is read by the Judge expressing what you plead guilty to, and how you did it. This is often initially drafted by police, making it one sided, far from the truth, making you sound worse than what actually happened. As a result, this can cause a heavier punishment to you. For those reasons, it’s critical to negotiate the set of facts to reflect the truth, putting you in a better light and resulting in a better, lighter outcome.
Our lawyers will pick all the holes in the evidence, and use this to negotiate with police to change the set of facts. This is something they have been successfully doing for years.
Psychologist reports
Your court outcome can be significantly improved with a lighter punishment by getting a powerful psychologist or psychiatrist report for the Judge to read. This report should be from a highly experienced and respected expert who should comment on your state of mind, insight, remorse, shame and explanation of why you committed the offence.
Our senior firearms lawyers will hand pick the best one suited to you and your case.
Maximum penalty
If charged with s93H(1) offence of trespassing, the maximum punishment is a term of imprisonment of up to 5 years if dealt with in the District Court, and up to 2 years if dealt with in the Local Court.
If charged with s93H(2) offence of using the weapon, the maximum is a term of imprisonment of up to 10 years if dealt with in the District Court, and up to 2 years if in the Local Court.
It’s critical to understand that the maximum is rarely given, and when it is, the Judges only impose it on the most serious offenders, often with lengthy criminal records.
Types of penalties
Depending on the above points, the way you prepare and present your case, the Judge will give you any one of the following types of punishment:
- Section 10 Dismissal
- Conditional Release Order
- Fine
- Community Correction Order
- Intensive Correction Order
- Full Time Imprisonment
For getting the best possible outcome in your case, speak to one of our leading criminal defence lawyers specialising in firearms offences. They hold a proven record of successfully getting the best possible outcome for their clients, and are recognised as leaders in firearm cases.