Guns, ute and $6000 worth of jewellery stolen

Brianna Oliver, 31, of Echuca, pleaded guilty to burglary and two counts of theft.

Prosecutor David Cordy told the court Firebrace, Oliver and another man went to a Stanhope house between 10am and 10.30am on January 6, 2023.

Firebrace went inside and ransacked the home, while Oliver remained outside in the car as a look-out.

They stole two shotguns — a Beretta double-barrel 12-gauge shotgun and a Stirling single-barrel shotgun — as well as ammunition and $6000 worth of jewellery, including a watch, bracelets and necklaces.

They also stole a Mazda BT-50 ute from the property.

The court was told the two guns had not been recovered, but the ute was found at a caravan park in Harrietville on February 23, 2023.

Firebrace is also not allowed to possess guns under a Firearms Prohibition Order.

He was also on bail at the time, as well as on a community corrections order.

Firebrace’s defence barrister Lewis Winter told the court his client had a traumatic upbringing “that involved significant violence, trauma and neglect”.

Firebrace started drinking alcohol and using cannabis at the age of 15, and started using methamphetamines in his 20s.

Mr Winter said in the lead-up to the offending, Firebrace spent four weeks at Odyssey House in a drug rehabilitation program while on bail in February 2022, but exited after four weeks because he didn’t want to have the COVID-19 vaccine and was not allowed to stay without it.

In May 2022 he moved in with Oliver and was sober “for a few months” while he was working six days a week and was taking part in alcohol and drug counselling, Mr Winter said.

In September 2022 he lost his job and a month later he and Oliver lost the Rochester house they were renting — which Oliver had lived in for seven years — after it was flooded in the October 2022 floods.

“That was the catalyst for his mental health decline, and he went back to using drugs,” Mr Winter said.

The defence counsel said Firebrace had been in jail on pre-sentence detention for 837 days and had become a trusted member of the prison population.

Mr Winter said Firebrace had a position at a drug residential rehabilitation centre he had already paid for, and he intended to go there when released from prison.

However, Mr Winter said it could not be shied away from that the theft and possession of firearms was a serious matter.

Judge Trevor Wraight was concerned the firearms had never been recovered by police.

“He must have had the capacity and connections to off-load them quite quickly,” Judge Wraight said.

Mr Winter said Firebrace told police he committed the crimes to buy drugs.

Oliver’s defence counsel Ellen Murphy told the court her client was not charged with the theft of the firearms — only the burglary and theft of the ute and jewellery.

Ms Murphy said Oliver had pleaded guilty to these charges because of her complicity in the burglary, as she was acting as a look-out.

She said Oliver had a history of methamphetamines use, and had re-commenced using the drug during her relationship with Firebrace.

The court was told that since being bailed, Oliver had done drug and alcohol counselling and had not used methamphetamines since the incident.

Ms Murphy asked the judge to give limited weight to parity between sentences for the pair because of their different charges, different roles and their different criminal history.

Judge Wraight ordered Oliver be assessed for a community corrections order.

The pair will be sentenced later in June.