Court dismissed charge which carried a jail sentence that could have forced MP out of Victorian parliament

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Gun charges against a Nationals MP that could have brought down Denis Napthine’s Victorian government have been dismissed.



The state MP for Mildura, Peter Crisp, was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond on Monday for failing to prevent the loss or theft of three semi-automatic rifles from his farm over the border in New South Wales.



But the court in Wentworth dismissed the more serious charge of keeping an unauthorised prohibited firearm, which carried a maximum 14-year jail sentence that could have left the MP ineligible to hold his seat in the Victorian parliament.



Under Victoria’s constitution, anyone convicted of an offence carrying a jail term longer than five years is banned from the electoral roll, and by extension, from sitting in parliament.

His conviction could have triggered a by-election that would have jeopardised the Coalition government’s already tenuous one-seat majority, which currently hinges on the rebel Frankston MP Geoff Shaw.



Shaw was last week cleared of contempt of parliament by a Coalition-dominated committee, but the Labor opposition will push to have that finding overturned, which could see the Liberal-turned-independent suspended or expelled from the chamber.



Crisp was revealed to be facing nine firearm offences in February after a police investigation into the theft of the guns.



He admitted three counts of failing to prevent the theft of his guns, News Corp reported. But Crisp challenged the other charges, including possessing weapons without a permit, on the basis that he had a valid Victorian licence, and was covered by a section of NSW gun regulations allowing farmers to shoot vermin.



Three charges were dismissed and Crisp was found not guilty of another three.



Crisp said outside court that the case was a wake-up call for gun owners to store their weapons properly.



"Use me as an example, make sure your cabinets are compliant," he told the ABC. “Doing things how we've always done in the past is no longer good enough."



A separate investigation begun by Victorian police into whether Crisp has broken any Victorian firearm laws was awaiting the result of Monday’s hearing and is expected to conclude shortly.

