A man who tried to make a submachine gun from internet instructions narrowly missed out on a jail sentence when he appeared in Rockingham Magistrates Court this morning.

Luke Allan Blechynden pleaded guilty to unlicensed manufacture of firearms/ammunition.

The police prosecutor said Blechynden was a boilermaker at BHP in Leinster from April to June. The prosecutor said an internal investigation and subsequent search of Blechynden’s locker found instructions on how to make a 9mm submachine gun and a part for making a submachine gun.

The lawyer said Blechynden could not get a gun license and he wanted to hunt kangaroos to feed his four cats and a dog. She said Blechynden looked on the internet to find out how to make a firearm and the submachine gun instructions were the first ones he found. The lawyer said Blechynden had lost his job.

The police prosecutor said it was mind boggling Blechynden had sought to make a submachine gun. He said gun could have fallen into the wrong hands.

Blechynden was sentenced to seven months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.