Kooringal man Kayleb Daniel Longfellow wins appeal after he was caught with ammunition rounds in car

Kooringal man Kayleb Daniel Longfellow, 25, appeared via video link in the Wagga District Court on Tuesday to appeal a 10-month intensive correction order he was given in May for one count of acquiring etc ammunition while subject to a prohibition order and one count of being in custody of a knife in a public place.

On February 6, 2023, police followed a vehicle, driven by Longfellow, through Ashmont before it stopped at a nearby residence.

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Longfellow told police he had nothing to declare but police instructed him to place his hands on the vehicle and conducted a search, during which they found numerous items including 67 rounds of live ammunition and a folding knife under the driver's seat.

This week the court heard Longfellow, who was in custody for a separate matter, was under a firearms prohibition order at the time of the incident.

Counsel for the defence said the ammunition had belonged to Longfellow's father, who passed away a few years ago, and that it had sentimental value.

But Judge Gordon Lerve was sceptical.

"I know what it's like to have sentimental attachment to something that belonged to a parent, but ammunition?" the judge asked.

The court heard the vehicle belonged to Longfellow and counsel for the defence admitted his client had placed the rounds of ammunition there before he was slammed with a firearms prohibition order on February 3, but later forgot they were there.

As to the knife, Judge Lerve said the location in which it was found was "highly suspicious"

"While it's a tool of trade, why it's not in tool box and under cover in driver's seat makes the whole matter very suspicious," the judge said.

The crown prosecutor said the circumstances were such that it "certainly doesn't look good for the appellant" and argued that the threshold for a sentence of imprisonment had been crossed.

The court also heard Longfellow had been released from custody just three days prior and was on bail at the time of offending.

"He doesn't wish to help himself does he," Judge Lerve said.

But counsel for the defence argued his client, a concreter by trade, had a good record until he was 24 years of age and that he had been at a "low point in his life."

The court Longfellow had experienced a relationship breakdown and had turned to ice, taking 1.5 grams per day in the lead up to the incident.

"He is now abstinent," his lawyers said.

But Judge Lerve counted Longfellow's step away from drugs and the fact he hopes to take part in a rehab program as significant.

Judge Lerve also considered time already served and sentenced him to a two-year community corrections order with a condition that he abstain from drugs for the duration of that period.

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