Moresby missing firearms: 16-year-old refused bail after Geraldton detectives match DNA to fingerprint on safe

A teenage boy is facing charges relating to a burglary in Moresby in which six firearms were stolen, after a fingerprint on a gun safe linked him to the scene, a Geraldton court was told. The 16-year-old was refused bail in the Geraldton Children’s Court on Tuesday after the magistrate said there was a “clear and obvious risk to the community” while the weapons were still missing. Between the late hours of Friday, August 30 and the early hours of Sunday morning, police say three suspects, a 16-year-old boy and two adults yet to be identified, entered an unlocked shed at a home on Longva Road in Moresby while no one was home. Police prosecutor Sen. Const. Thomas Potts told the court a co-accused jimmied open and somehow unlocked a gun safe and stole six firearms, including a double-barrel shotgun and five rifles, described by police as one .22 calibre, two .303 and two .223 bolt action repeater rifles, as well as ammunition. The stolen firearms are valued at $5000. Sen. Const. Potts said the 16-year-old helped carry the firearms to a car, and the stolen weapons were transported to an address in Mullewa. The court was told forensic results identified the 16-year-old boy by a fingerprint on the safe. He was arrested on Tuesday and interviewed by police. Detectives found one of the firearms, a .223 bolt action repeater rifle, which the court was told was buried in bushland near Mullewa. The two remaining suspects, believed to be adults, are yet to be identified, and the remaining guns and ammunition are unaccounted for. The 16-year-old boy was charged with aggravated burglary and stealing a firearm, and did not enter pleas. Magistrate Kelly Thompson said taking firearms in a burglary was “very serious” and refused the boy bail. “This is a very marginal matter, and what really troubles me in releasing bail is this is a burglary involving firearms,” she said. “These two matters are very serious . . . there is a clear and obvious risk to the community where firearms are unlocated.” The teenager will be back in court on Tuesday for sentencing for stealing a motor vehicle and reckless driving, after he stole a 450cc motorbike from Strathalbyn and rode it recklessly with a 12-year-old passenger who was not wearing a helmet.