DETECTIVES working as part of a secret strike force have charged an Armidale man with shortening and selling a shotgun.
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Tom Eddie Shorter’s family watched on in Armidale Local Court as he appeared via video link from Tamworth prison, where he is being held on four firearm-related charges.
The 25-year-old is accused of purchasing a side-by-side double-barrel shotgun in Armidale on October 29, last year.
Detectives allege he shortened the firearm without being authorised to and defaced the serial number on the same 12-gauge shotgun in Armidale.
He’s then accused of supplying the same prohibited gun on the same date to a man in Armidale.
Shorter was arrested and charged by detectives from Strike Force Jinglemoney in Armidale last week and has been refused bail since.
The DPP have taken charge of the case and have been ordered by Magistrate Michael Holmes to serve a brief of evidence on the defence solicitor before the case returns to court in July.
“Bail is not applied for today,” Shorter’s solicitor Rasha Shammas told the court, before foreshadowing a bail bid on the next occasion.
Mr Holmes said prior notice had to be given to the DPP before any bail application to allow the officer-in-charge, who was in court for the case, to "check out what is suggested”.
Bail is not applied for today.
- Solicitor Rasha Shammas
Two other men have been charged with firearms offences as part of the operation.
Strike Force Jinglemoney was launched in 2016 by Armidale detectives in conjunction with police from the State Crime Command to investigate firearms offences in the Armidale area.