A High Court judge has sentenced a Sutherlands man to four years in prison after police uncovered a significant cache of ammunition and firearm-related items at his home during a 2025 operation.

Justice John Spencer handed down the sentence to 30-year-old Daquan George, who pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition.

George received a four-year sentence for the ammunition offence and two years for possession of the firearm and magazines. Both sentences will run concurrently.

The charges arose from a police search conducted on July 31, 2025, when officers attached to the Guns and Gangs Suppression Unit executed a warrant at George’s residence in Sutherlands.

During the operation, officers reportedly discovered a black shopping bag inside a washroom at the front of the property. The bag contained 140 rounds of ammunition of varying calibres, six firearm magazines and a pen gun.

Police said George admitted ownership of the items when questioned at the scene.

According to court documents, George later told investigators he had found the bag along a shortcut approximately one month earlier and brought it home intending to sell the contents. He later claimed he had decided to dispose of the items instead.

The matter first appeared before Senior Magistrate Ngaio Emanuel in December 2025, where George entered guilty pleas to both charges.

However, rather than sentencing the defendant in the Magistrate’s Court, Emanuel referred the matter to the High Court under provisions introduced through the Firearms Amendment Act of 2024.

The referral marked the first known use of the legislation, with the magistrate ruling that the quantity and nature of the ammunition and weapon recovered made the matter too serious for the lower court to adequately address.