Bikie refused bail after arrested for 2019 shooting of man at Hindmarsh following analysis of AN0M messages
A bikie arrested over a 2019 shooting allegedly sent messages over the AN0M platform saying how funny it was the victim was “spurting blood” in time with his heart beat.
Police & Courts
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A bikie, who fled the country hours after allegedly shooting another man, told his partner not to be mad and joked about the victim’s injuries.
The Adelaide Magistrates Court also heard this month that the man allegedly used the encrypted AN0M app to suggest to his associates they “knock” the victim.
The man, whose name has been suppressed by the court, was accused of shooting the victim - the driver for a rival gang - in the leg in Hindmarsh on September 16, 2019 before stealing his car. The car was found dumped in Ovingham.
The case was revisited last year as part of Operation Ironside which analysed messages sent using the encrypted AN0M app.
“A review of the AN0M material has found detailed, explicit and quite frankly disturbing messages which the prosecution attribute to the accused,” the prosecutor said.
Once out of Australia, the accused - who allegedly fled the country hours after the shooting - allegedly messaged his partner about the incident.
“So I guess you’re wondering why I’m here, well please don’t be mad but I kind of slightly may have shot someone in broad daylight and pistol whipped him and bashed him in front of a few witnesses,” the man allegedly wrote.
“On the bright side I made him squirt: his head was squirting blood in time with his heart beat, it was pretty funny.”
The court heard the shooting was spurred by animus between the gangs about the theft of some explosives.
“On the prosecution case this was intended to have been a kidnapping,” the prosecutor said.
“The man got into the victim’s vehicle, a second man was meant to assist him but didn’t, It culminated in the man shooting the victim.
“The bullet went through the victim’s left leg and became lodged in his right calf.”
The court heard one of the reasons the man remained out of the country was to establish whether the victim would co-operate with police.
The prosecutor alleged the man received a message saying “hey bro, saw lawyer today and she said you can come back, that guy hasn’t done a statement and he’s not talking”.
The prosecutor said the man had messaged associates in Australia that they “might have to knock him just to be safe”.
Messages referred to by prosecutor also allegedly showed the man had provided a handgun which was intended to be used in the assassination of a bikie figure in Norwood.
The alleged plot was foiled by police when the firearms were seized and several people arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
He is also charged with breaching a firearm prohibition order by providing the gun, but is not charged in relation to the Norwood conspiracy.
Michael Abbott QC, for the man, said the case against his client was one of the “most improbable circumstantial (he) had ever heard”.
He argued for the man to be released on home detention bail.
Mr Wells said the alleged offending was too serious and refused to release him on bail.
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