Police discover man's underground gun bunker under his sofa

Police in Australia unearthed an underground gun bunker hidden underneath a man's sofa.

Western Australia Police discovered the bunker in a property in High Wycombe, Perth, last year following a tip off.

Check out what officers found here:

Police searched boxing promoter David 'Ice Man' Letizia's home, and pulled a hydraulic lever which lifted an unassuming sofa into the air.

From there, a staircase led to an underground bunker containing an arsenal of high-powered weapons and even a shooting range.

There was also a workbench for Letizia to work on his weapons, suppressors for his guns, and body armour.

The bunker stored a variety of different calibre bullets, including boxes of 50-calibre rounds for one of his rifles.

WA Police

Letizi was charged with possession of unlicensed ammunition, possession of unlicensed firearm, possession of bulletproof clothing and inadequate storage of ammunition at home. He was fined $3,200 AUD ($2,213/£1,835), according to news.co.au.

He will also face court later this year charged with illegally building the bunker without the approval of the local council.

The bust came shortly before the biggest shake-up of Western Australia's gun laws in 50 years, and police minister Paul Papalia said the state's current laws meant Letizia escaped serious penalties.

WA Police

"The Western Australian Police Force recently seized an arsenal of very high-powered firearms being incorrectly stored in a secret underground bunker, hidden beneath a storage unit in suburban Perth," he said, according to WAtoday.

"Unbelievably, the worst offence this individual has allegedly committed is failing to apply to the local council for approval to build the bunker and underground shooting range.

"This person was a licensed firearms owner. Most of the weapons down there were licensed.

"Why he needed that many high-powered rifles in a secret underground shooting range is beyond me."

Speaking to 7News, he reiterated that the case highlighted the need for gun law reform in the state.

WA Police

"Our laws are outdated," he said. "They allow some very high-powered firearms that really are designed for shooting rhinos or penetrating armour plating.

"There's no justifiable reason for them in our state. That's why we're going to ban them."

He added that the force 'make no apologies' for forcing 'a complete rewrite of the firearms act'.

"It will be modernised and just about every element of firearms ownership and use will be addressed," he said.

Topics: Australia, Crime

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey