Stolen arms a ‘stupid mistake’

Canberra Times, Page: 8. Saturday, 10 May, 2008

A highly regarded Australian army captain made a “single, very stupid mistake” in stealing and selling 10 rocket launchers, a Sydney judge has been told.
While conceding the weapons had the potential to kill, John Stratton, SC, for Captain Shane Della-Vedova, said there was no evidence anyone was harmed.
Della-Vedova told police he initially took the weapons “accidentally”, later selling them for a “pittance” to a man who said he wanted them for trophies.
The 47-year-old former ammunition technician officer, from Wattle Grove in Sydney’s southwest, pleaded guilty to possessing and stealing the Australian Defence Force weapons.
At his sentencing hearing in the NSW District Court yesterday, Mr Stratton said Della-Vedova did not know who the ultimate recipients of the weapons would be and only one had been recovered.
The “highly regarded soldier” joined the army when he was 17, but his unblemished career was now in tatters due to a “single, very stupid mistake”, Mr Stratton said. Judge Jonathan Williams will sentence Della-Vedova on May15.