Key facts
- Josie Murray, grandmother of missing Gus Lamont, was fined $10,500 for possessing a gun silencer.
- The firearms offence is unrelated to Gus Lamont's disappearance eight months prior.
- Murray had a previous conviction in 2010 for failing to securely store firearms.
- The silencer was found in a strongroom with firearms, including one modified to fit it.
- Gus Lamont was last seen on September 27.
- South Australia police declared the disappearance a major crime in February, with a suspect identified at the station.
Josie Murray, the grandmother of missing four-year-old Gus Lamont, has been fined $10,500 after pleading guilty to a firearms offence. The charge of possessing a gun silencer, also known as a sound moderator, is unrelated to the boy's disappearance eight months ago.
During a hearing at Adelaide magistrates court on Friday, prosecutor Tania Stevens told the court the silencer was found in a passcode-protected strongroom alongside firearms, including one modified to fit it. Murray had a previous conviction in 2010 for failing to securely store firearms after a trespasser stole an unsecured weapon from her property and used it to commit serious offences before taking his own life.
Defence lawyer Andy Ey highlighted the traumatic impact of the disappearance on Murray and her family, urging the magistrate to reject a custodial sentence. He noted that two non-working firearms were taken, and a third, belonging to Murray's aunt, was used by the trespasser. Magistrate Roderick Jensen imposed the $10,500 fine and disqualified Murray from holding a firearms licence for five years.
Gus Lamont was last seen playing at the family's Oak Park station in South Australia's far north on September 27. In February, police declared his disappearance a major crime, identifying a suspect living at the station but stressing his parents were not under suspicion. Intensive searches spanning nearly 500 sq km have failed to locate the boy.