Rural View shooting: Jacob Dean Cavanagh pleads guilty to unlawful wounding

A gunman fired off a shotgun during a daylight confrontation with a man he had “bad blood” with, but he didn’t mean to hit him. DETAILS

Jacob Dean Cavanaugh pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding at Rural View.

A gunman who fired off a shotgun during an explosive confrontation outside a Rural View home wounding a man he had “bad blood” with will spend at least another six months in jail.

Jacob Dean Cavanagh did not intend to hit the victim when he pulled the shotgun trigger on April 11, 2022.

He had been aiming at the vehicle his victim was seated in and “he’s been caught up in the blast cone”.

Mackay District Court heard he and Cavanagh had had a run in the night before.

It was about mid afternoon when a black SUV pulled up outside a home on McHugh Street where the victim lived with his mother.

First another man got out and punched the victim in the head before Cavanagh, wearing a bandana on the lower part of his face, exited and pointed a single barrel shotgun at his chest and legs.

The court heard he then fired the weapon at the vehicle but shrapnel ricocheted hitting the victim and causing a significant injury.

“His leg was peppered with pellets,” crown prosecutor Matthew Sutton said.

“It was birdshot.”

Jacob Dean Cavanaugh pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding at Rural View.

“He’s no stranger to the criminal justice system,” Mr Sutton said of Cavanagh, who has a 13 page criminal history and had recently been released on parole just three months before the shooting.

“He went out … there was bad blood … there was an attack,” Mr Sutton said.

Cavanaugh pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding, unlawful possession of a weapon and wilful damage.

Judge Suzanne Sheridan accepted the shotgun aim “was clearly at the vehicle”, but noted Cavanagh’s lengthy criminal history that included entries for drugs, dishonesty and three counts of possessing weapons.

“There is a clear upwards trend of more serious possession of weapons,” she said.

The court heard he began using meth when he was 19 years old and had “struggled with that addiction since”.

Cavanagh was jailed for three years with parole eligibility on January 10. Convictions were recorded.