Robert Wayne Ninyette: Perth man jailed by Albany court and handed fine for host of historic offences

A Perth man facing a host of charges, including car theft, possessing illegal weapons and drugs, and using a false driver’s licence to hire a car and drive it to Albany, has been jailed by an Albany court. Robert Wayne Ninyette, 36, appeared in Albany Magistrates Court via video link from Albany Regional Prison on February 10 for sentencing on 14 charges, some dating back to 2019. Police prosecutor Sgt Dylan Fisher said Ninyette, along with a co-accused, broke into an automotive dealership in Beckenham on July 21, 2019. He broke a window of the office building to get in, and while inside, removed the hard drive system of the business’s CCTV cameras and took keys for multiple vehicles parked in the yard. He damaged a security gate and drove a car out of the yard but abandoned it a short distance away. A police dog quickly located Ninyette hiding in a trailer in the vicinity. During a traffic stop in Dianella on July 26, 2019, Sgt Fisher said police found multiple weapons including knives and an axe in a car Ninyette was a passenger in. On September 12, 2019 police found a loaded handgun and methamphetamine in the car Ninyette was driving when they stopped him in Bassendean. By 2023, Sgt Fisher said Ninyette had multiple outstanding warrants to his name, and was located by police in Albany on November 30 after he hired a blue BMW sedan using a false driver’s licence from car rental company Sixt at Perth Airport on November 27. Ninyette’s driver’s licence was already permanently disqualified at the time. Officers spotted Ninyette on York Street, getting into the blue BMW sedan, and moved to arrest him. He resisted heavily, injuring one of the officers when he pushed him to the ground, and attempting to get into the car and drive away. Ninyette was arrested and taken to the Albany police station, where he refused to give police the password for his phone. Police had requested access to the device due to suspicions it may contain evidence of drug dealing. Defence lawyer Georgia Herford spoke about Ninyette’s “harrowing” childhood and early life at length, painting a clear picture for magistrate Rosemarie Myers as to how Ninyette’s personal circumstances had shaped his ongoing offending. She acknowledged being found with a loaded firearm was a serious offence, but said Ninyette had never intended to use it to harm or cause fear to anyone in the community. She noted he had recently served two years’ imprisonment for a drug offence, a sentence that expired in November of 2025. Ms Herford also said Ninyette had an outstanding warrant in Queensland, and foreshadowed an expected application to extradite him back to the Eastern States as soon as his WA matters had all been resolved. Ms Myers acknowledged the personal challenges Ninyette had faced throughout his lifetime, but said his continued offending during a period when he “absconded” from WA, resulting in the Queensland warrant, was concerning. Ninyette was sentenced to 10 months in prison, backdated to November 30, 2025, and was made eligible for parole. He was also fined $2500.