A man who made 15 pipe bombs found in public spaces was tracked down by police after a Bunnings customer reported him purchasing suspicious items.
Damien Paul O'Brien, 42, is behind bars after making the explosives discovered in Belconnen in January this year.
In August, he was sentenced to more than two years' imprisonment with an 11-month non-parole period.
O'Brien had pleaded guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court to a charge of unauthorised manufacture of a prohibited dangerous substance.
The particulars of the charge state he made the 15 bombs between January 12 and 16, 2026.
On January 12, O'Brien caught a cab, using the name Peter, to Belconnen Bunnings.
While he was inside the store he was captured on CCTV stealing galvanised pipes and caps valued at $127 by stashing them in his pockets.
When he left the store his pockets were "noticeably bulkier".
The 42-year-old student also purchased three additional galvanised steel pipes, a fit cap, sanding blocks and two wooden alphabet craft sets.
The next day police were called to a greenbelt near Dannevig Place in Florey after a member of the public reported an unexploded bomb.
A short time later, another bomb was reported in the underpass between Florey and Totterdell Street in Belconnen. Police discovered this bomb had detonated.
Workers at the underpass then gave police three more detonated bombs they had collected earlier that morning.
By about 9.30am the same day, police specialist resources found two more pipe bombs in a stormwater drain.
The sixth bomb was different in appearance to the others and contained chlorine.
An eighth pipe bomb, about twice the diameter of the others, was then found in Florey.
On January 14, police discovered three more explosives along the Florey greenbelt after being made aware of a post on Reddit saying police had failed to find another unexploded bomb.
The next day another three were found by police in the same area.
On the same day a member of the public contacted police after seeing an ACT Policing media release.
He said that while he was shopping at Bunnings, he saw a person purchasing items consistent with making a pipe bomb but did not think anything of it at the time.
Police were then able to obtain CCTV footage from the hardware store, and searched O'Brien's Belconnen home on January 18.
O'Brien wasn't home but in his room they seized materials consistent with those used to make the explosives.
Officers later saw text messages he had sent to another person stating: "Those fireworks that were in the news were m [sic], I'm so sorry but I'm getting locked up for it."
"They were juscforrworksvnot [sic] bombs but I'll try sort that now," another read.
O'Brien was arrested about 10.35pm that night after being found in the bathroom of a Gungahlin home.
When he appeared in court he did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody.
It was not the first time O'Brien had come to the attention of police. In September 2024 he was caught asleep behind the wheel of a parked Ford Ranger with the engine still running. His licence had been disqualified a year beforehand.
O'Brien's sentence was backdated to take time already spent in custody into account, meaning he will be eligible for parole in December.
