‘Not James Bond’: court fines missing boy’s grandmother
The grandmother of missing boy Gus Lamont has been found guilty of possessing a gun silencer after a court heard she had a previous conviction for the theft of a firearm by a fugitive.
Josie Murray, the grandmother of the four-year-old boy who disappeared from his South Australian farm in September 2025, was fined $10,500 following a hearing in the Adelaide Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
Murray, 75, of Yunta, pleaded guilty to the serious charge of having a strong moderator.
Defense lawyer Andy Ey told magistrate Roderick Jensen he would “address the elephant in the room”.
“It was an extremely difficult time for my client. A grandson went missing from the property late last year,” he said.
“That’s where we see the media attention and police numbers; this has been a very, very difficult time for the family and they’re trying to get through it as best they can.”
Gus Lamont was last seen playing at the family’s Oak Park Station on September 27 by one of his grandmothers.
On February 5, police declared the boy’s disappearance a major crime and said a resident of the remote station was a suspect in the case and his probable death.
They confirmed his grandmother, mother and younger brother were on the property at the time of his disappearance, but stressed his parents were not suspects.
Police executed a search warrant in Oak Park on January 15 on an “unrelated matter”, prosecutor Tania Stevens told the court.
In a password-protected safe room, they found the silencer and several firearms, including one modified to fit the silencer.
Ms Stevens said Murray had previously been convicted of storing firearms unsafely in 2010.
This crime occurred when the fugitive trespassed on the defendant’s property and stole an unsecured firearm.
“This individual then proceeded to commit serious criminal offenses with a firearm before taking his own life,” he said.
Mr Ey explained that two non-functional firearms were taken, while the third was taken from Murray’s aunt’s property later that day; this weapon was “the firearm used by the trespasser to take his own life.”
“Being held hostage by my client’s military was an extremely traumatic event for the entire family,” he said.
Mr Ey asked the magistrate to reject the prosecutor’s call for a custodial sentence for the crime, which carries a maximum penalty of $75,000 or up to 10 years in prison.
“This isn’t a James Bond movie where a villain or an assassin lurks around corners taking out targets with little more than the whisper of a gun — that’s not what the court is dealing with,” he said.
Mr Jensen imposed a $10,500 fine and banned Murray from holding a firearms license for five years.
Gus Lamont’s disappearance sparked an intense search covering almost 500 square kilometers, involving hundreds of police and volunteers as well as air support and mounted units; but these searches failed to locate Gus or anything belonging to him.
