Benjamin Cheeseman: Man who made gun with 3D printer in parent’s home spared immediate jail term

A man who made a 3D printed gun at his parents house has narrowly escaped immediate jail, with the judge saying it was a “line-ball” call amid heightened concern about firearms across Australia. When Benjamin Cheeseman was pulled over by police in Ascot in January 2025, officers found the Glok-type gun hidden inside a compartment in his car along with methylamphetamine and a smoking implement. The 43-year-old also had various 3D printer-manufactured firearm parts under the passenger seat and in the boot. Police then searched his parents’ Riverton house, where he was living after a relationship break-up and becoming unemployed, Cheeseman’s District Court of WA sentencing was told on Thursday. They found a loaded 3D printer and a broken one nearby, and the items inside the vehicle including the gun had his DNA on them. Cheeseman’s defence counsel John Hawkins said his client had used the printer to make earrings and other jewellery but his interest in making firearms was “piqued” when he saw instructions on an SD card. He spent days working on the project, the lawyer said, but had a “light-bulb moment that it was a silly idea and needed to be got rid of”. The gun was not capable of being fired, missing a spring for the trigger, Mr Hawkins said, claiming Cheeseman was about to dispose of it and the parts when he was caught. Prosecutor Ashton Tognini said the State did not accept that explanation, adding Cheeseman had been researching the build for a month. “This was not impulse offending,” she said, but accepted the gun was not linked to the drug trade. Mr Hawkins said his client did not plan to target anyone with the firearm. Judge John Prior said it was a serious offence, noting Cheeseman had “hundreds” of related searches on his phone and a video of a 3D gun being fired. Laws were being changed to address concerns around the nation about who possessed firearms, particularly in the wake of the Bondi massacre, the judge said. 3D printed guns subverted the licensing process and were untraceable, with no serial number, Judge Prior said. “People involved in underworld crimes know that,” he added. “General deterrence should be given significant weight.” The devil made work for idle hands, he said, accepting the offending was a product of spare time and curiosity. Cheeseman has previous firearm convictions, the most serious penalty being a suspended term of imprisonment. He copped another, with Judge Prior imposing a 12-month term, suspended for 18 months - meaning he must be of good behaviour for that long or spend a year behind bars. “This case is a real line-ball,” the judge said. In the community, Cheeseman could get help for drug abuse and psychological counselling, he said.