South West man slammed for “serious offence” after rifle was stolen and is yet to be found

A South West man has been fined after a rifle that was carelessly left in his car was stolen earlier this year — and is yet to be found. Jamie Bilston, 34, was fined in Harvey Magistrates Court last week in relation to the incident, described by Magistrate Linda Keane as a very “serious offence”. Bilston had contacted police on July 21 to report his BRNO .22 calibre rifle had been stolen from his vehicle parked outside his Benger home. The court was told prior to ringing police, Bilston had used the rifle to kill a pig for a friend before heading home. Bilston then went to get cigarettes from the store and forgot the rifle was still in his car when arriving back home for the second time. Police prosecutor Sgt Darren Grigson said the bolt was left in the rifle making it capable of being fired. He told the court it was concerning because the weapon had still not been found. Bilston was not required to appear in court for the hearing. He was found guilty of inadequate storage of a firearm and was handed a $1000 fine, on top of court costs of about $260. Magistrate Linda Keane said she considered the offence serious, but took Bilston’s version of events into consideration when handing down her sentence. Ms Keane also took into account the man had no previous record of offending.