The explanation, one of several since the man was caught on October 3, was revealed as he appealed his sentence in Wagga District Court on Thursday. 

Deon Troy Eade, 42, was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of four months in November last year, after pleading guilty to two counts of possessing a prohibited weapon. 

Eade was caught at the domestic terminal where the weapons were found in his carry-on. 

In an interview with airport security, Eade said the baton was to get coconuts out of trees and the knuckledusters were to crack them open despite claiming he had never used the weapons before. 

The Griffith man immediately launched an appeal against the severity of his sentence. 

Eade’s solicitor told the court on Thursday it was a “silly” offence and her client wished he could turn back time. 

“He indicated he purchased both weapons not realising they were illegal,” she said. 

“They were going to be decorations for his man cave and he now thinks what a ridiculous decision that was. 

Judge Gordon Lerve told Eade there was “no way” he would reduce his sentence. 

“He thought knuckledusters were not illegal?” he said. 

“He told police at security the baton was a torch. 

“If you’re asking me to accept he brought the weapons at a tobacco store on George Street I simply can’t, they’ve been illegal for decades.”

Eade’s solicitor said her client’s story was corroborated by the fact he had gone straight through the security scanners to board his flight back to Wagga. 

“He has paid his rent at his home and at a storage facility until February 21 and if he doesn’t get out he will lose everything,” she said. 

She asked Judge Lerve to adjourn the case so Eade could attend a medical appointment to see if he was still unsuitable for an intensive corrections order. 

Crown solicitor Sam Baumgarten told the court the original sentence was adequate but he was not opposed to an adjournment. 

Judge Lerve ordered a new intensive corrections assessment with the case to be mentioned again next week. “I am sceptical of the extreme that he wasn’t aware they were illegal,” he said.