WHILE he admits he failed to safely store tonnes of firearms, ammunition, and explosives, Michael Fraser, 44, of Seaham, has no links to any crime gangs, Newcastle District Court was told on Wednesday,
At best, he was three steps removed. At the top of the food chain was Abuzar Sultani, who took over as president of the Burwood chapter of the Rebels Outlaw Motorcycle Gang in about January 2014.
A man code-named 'Mr Green' was a gang member and a close associate of Sultani's, sourcing firearms, ammunition, stolen cars and false registration plates for him. He was also sometimes asked to have firearms altered so they could not be tested by police and linked to crimes in which they were used, according to an agreed statement of facts tendered in court during Mr Fraser's sentence hearing.
There is no evidence that the other men involved, a man known by his code-name of 'Mr Black' and another as 'Mr White', or Mr Fraser, were members of the gang or associates of Sultani, the court heard. Mr Fraser became involved when Sultani asked Mr Green to organise for the repair of a 89mm luger pistol which wouldn't fire. Mr Black took it to Mr Green, Mr Green gave it to his brother, Mr White, and Mr White gave it to Mr Fraser, who at that time was his friend. In another incident in early 2015 Mr Green bought $35,000 worth of guns for Sultani, including an SKS semi-automatic rifle, which he wanted converted into a fully automatic weapon. He gave it to Mr Black, who gave it to Mr White, who gave it to Mr Fraser.
When Mr White presented the weapon to Mr Fraser, he racked it, told him how to clean it, and gave him ammunition for it but refused to make it fully automatic. He also failed to report the incident to police.
He also repaired a suppressor, or silencer, which is a prohibited weapon, and gave it back to Mr White who he knew was not licensed to have it.
When police raided Mr Fraser's Seaham-based business in February, 2018, they found a shipping container full of guns only secured by a standard padlock and key, as well other guns and ammunition inappropriately stored.
Defence barrister Robert Cavanagh said Mr Fraser, who ran a business selling guns as well as offering gun-smithing services and firearms storage, got out of his depth when he started to assist police offload unwanted firearms. "He over-stepped in trying to do things at a volume without the proper structures in place," Mr Cavanagh said.
He was intending to establish more suitable premises in Raymond Terrace and was "dumping stuff as fast as he could". "He has learned his lesson about the friends you keep," Mr Cavanagh said.
Mr Fraser has pleaded guilty to concealing a serious offence, two counts of possess unregistered firearms, one count of give possession of a prohibited firearm to an unauthorised person, as well as other less serious charges being taken into consideration.
He was in court with a group of supporters, many of whom wrote some of the 26 character references tendered on his behalf.
In the witness box being cross-examined by Crown prosecutor Paul Rosser QC, he admitted that he lied to police at the time of his arrest because he was "under a lot of stress that day". In relation to the incident with Mr White, where Fraser handed a dangerous weapon back to him, Mr Fraser said Mr White was standing right next to him and he "didn't want to get in a conflict with him".
Judge Peter McGrath will sentence Mr Fraser on Thursday, October 6.
