Six months into her pregnancy, with the demands of two young children at home, a young woman faced a terrifying moment when her four-year-old daughter stumbled upon a gun hidden in their couch. Understandably shaken, Kiara Ferguson, 27, immediately took the firearm from her child and headed towards the back of their home to confront her partner.
Her partner, Adam Winmar, was in the bathroom at the time. The couple had been together for a decade, and Ms. Ferguson was all too familiar with the dangers his possessions could pose. “What have I told you about this?” she demanded, confronting him over the presence of the weapon.
Despite Winmar’s previous unsuccessful attempts to fire the homemade gun, this time it was loaded. The weapon in question was a makeshift 12-gauge spring pipe gun, a dangerous item to have in a household with children.
In a moment of unfortunate chaos, Ms. Ferguson dropped the gun onto the tiled floor of the bathroom. Tragically, as described by Supreme Court Justice Michael Croucher, the gun discharged upon impact, sending a single shot that struck Ms. Ferguson just below her eye.
Ms Ferguson dropped the weapon, a homemade 12-gauge spring pipe gun, onto the tiled bathroom floor.
‘In a stroke of terrible misfortune’ the gun hit the tiles and fired a single shot, which hit Ms Ferguson below her eye, Supreme Court Justice Michael Croucher said.
‘She fell to the floor, mortally wounded,’ the judge told the court sitting in Shepparton on Friday.
Winmar called triple zero and began CPR, however Ms Ferguson could not be saved and she died in the bathroom of their Shepparton home on April 1, 2023.
The gun hit the tiles and fired a single shot – hitting Kiara Ferguson below the eye. She died in the bathroom of the family’s Shepparton, Victoria home
Adam Winmar pleaded guilty to reckless conduct endangering life and possessing a firearm as a prohibited person. He was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment
Justice Croucher said Winmar’s storage of the gun inside a crevice of their couch in the lounge room, which was easily accessible to their two children, had endangered their lives as well as Ms Ferguson’s.
‘It was a profoundly stupid thing to do,’ he said, as he jailed him for three months on Friday.
‘Any loaded gun is to be treated as potentially dangerous, especially so when young children might get their hands on it.’
Winmar was initially charged with a firearm offence and pleaded guilty in the Koori Court, however prosecutors upgraded it to negligent manslaughter.
Before a trial was due to begin, the prosecution abandoned the most serious charge and Winmar pleaded guilty to reckless conduct endangering life and possessing a firearm as a prohibited person.
He was given a sentence indication of three months in prison followed by a 12-month community corrections order.
The judge imposed this sentence, despite hearing on Friday morning that Winmar was continuing to abuse drugs as recently as this week.
Prosecutor Jim Shaw said Winmar admitted he was using methamphetamine every day and consuming GHB four to five days a week.
Winmar also had a lengthy criminal history and continued to offend after Ms Ferguson’s death, including committing assault and choking offences for which he was given a four-month jail term in April.
After completing this term, and while on a community corrections order, he committed an affray in public with others while holding a meat cleaver, for which he received another three months’ jail.
But Justice Croucher ultimately found Winmar’s experience of losing his partner, not being allowed to see his children and his ‘extreme guilt and devastation’ over what he did, were its own form of punishment.
‘I am satisfied that Mr Winmar is extremely unlikely ever again to have a loaded gun at his premises, let alone to store a gun in such a manner,’ the judge said.
Winmar was taken into custody after the hearing to begin serving his three-month prison term.
Upon his release he must perform 200 hours of community work and undergo treatment for drug and alcohol abuse at a residential facility.
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