A man accused of supplying a shotgun to a Melbourne terrorist is also charged over an imitation firearm, which is actually a cigarette lighter belonging to his father, a court has been told.
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Burak Diler, 26, is one of four men charged with supplying a sawn-off shotgun to Yacqub Khayre, who killed a receptionist at a Brighton apartment building in June 2017.
"My client is also charged with being in possession of an imitation firearm, found in a vase," Diler's lawyer James McQuillan told Melbourne Magistrates Court during a pre-trial hearing on Thursday.
"It looks like a sawn-off shotgun. It is in fact a cigarette lighter.
"It is his father's cigarette lighter."
Khayre killed receptionist Kai Hao, 36, took a female escort hostage and injured three police officers during the siege at Brighton on June 5.
The gunman, who died in a hail of return fire, was being monitored by a GPS anklet at the time, having previously been charged and acquitted of terrorism offences.
Prosecutors allege anklet data placed him at a housing estate car park in suburban Greenvale for seven minutes on May 19 last year, when the gun deal took place.
It's alleged George Matte-Hado, 37, sold the double-barrelled shotgun for $2000 and Diler acted as the middleman, facilitating the sale to Khayre.
A phone and a laptop computer were seized after the Brighton siege, and other phones were analysed following counter-terror raids and arrests.
The prosecution case relies heavily on SMS messages sent between the different people involved, some of which were coded texts.
Diler is also accused of dealing a Beretta 9mm handgun, a charge that is based on texts he sent.
But Mr McQuillan said there is no direct evidence of Diler handling any guns, and he queried the reliability of the text messages.
"He might be a liar. He might be making things up," Mr McQuillan said of Diler.
"I'm asking, is there any other evidence?"
Diler, Matte-Hado, 37, Corey Moore, 48, and Kane Dalrymple, 31, are all facing multiple charges over the alleged gun dealing.
The quartet faced committal hearings together on Thursday to decide whether there is enough evidence to send their cases to trial.
But the hearings were adjourned part-heard and will return on May 14 with a DNA expert due to give evidence.
Matte-Hado is on bail and the others are in custody but they indicated they will seek bail when the case returns.
Australian Associated Press
