Robina Town Centre shooting: Mark James Graham jailed for 12 years for shooting bystander during bikie standoff with Jacques Teamo

A MAN drops a $10 note at a Queensland shopping centre. A passer-by innocently hands it back. But why the man dropped that $10 note — and what happened next — was a ‘brazen’ and ‘shocking’ crime.

A MAN drops a $10 note at a Queensland shopping centre.

A passing Good Samaritan picks it up and innocently hands it back.

The passer-by doesn’t know that the money fell out because the man, a Mongols bikie named Mark James Graham, just drew a gun from his bum bag.

And the passer-by doesn’t know he’s in the middle of a bikie stand-off.

That was April 28, 2012. Today, Graham, 28, was jailed for 12 years and three months for gunning down an innocent woman during a fight with a rival at a packed Gold Coast chopping centre.

Graham showed little emotion as he sat in the prisoner’s dock in the Supreme Court at Brisbane for sentencing.

His hair was recently shaved, revealing tattoos on his head, as well as those already visible on his face that read “carnage”, “revenge” and the bikie tag “1%”.

Customers at Vodafone near the scene of the shooting at Robina Town Centre, Gold Coast, in April 2012.

Graham was taken into custody on September 30 when a jury found him guilty of the attempted murder of ex-Bandido Jacques Teamo and the unlawful wounding of shopper Kathy Devitt when he opened fire at the crowded Robina Town Centre at 1.46pm on April 28, 2012.

Justice Alan Wilson jailed Graham for 12 years and three months for the “brazen” and “shocking” shooting.

He sentenced Graham to a further seven years for unlawful wounding and 18-months for the unlawful possession of a hand gun.

Justice Wilson said it remained a mystery why Mr Teamo armed himself with a knife and Graham with a handgun to go shopping with their respective families.

“When you saw each other, neither the presence of family nor of large numbers of innocent bystanders, discouraged you from a confrontation which resulted in Teamo and Ms Kathy Devitt, a person unknown to you, being shot,” he said.

The female victim of the shooting, Kathy Debitt, is transported out of Robina Town Centre.

He said Graham’s conduct should be “sternly condemned”.

“What you did with that weapon shattered the peace of a place in which citizens generally feel safe as they go about their leisurely business, confident that acts of extreme violence are remote and highly improbable,” he said.

“Your conduct exposed a large number of people to a real and present but also alien and entirely unexpected danger.”

Justice Wilson was critical of Graham’s expressions of remorse, adding they had only been expressed after he was convicted by a jury.

Sentences above 10 years automatically attract a serious violent offender declaration, where the prisoner must serve at least 80 per cent of the sentence before being eligible for parole.

Graham was a former member of the Finks MC before patching over to the Mongols last year.

His mother and sister were in court to support him on Monday.

Bikie Jacques Teamo.

Barrister Tony Kimmins, for Graham, tendered a letter of apology from his client to Ms Devitt as well as a cheque for $10,000.

He said Graham was remorseful for shooting Ms Devitt and hoped she could use the money to assist with her treatment costs.

Crown prosecutor Michael Byrne QC said Graham was on bail for firearm and drug offences when he twice fired a pistol in the shopping centre.

The court was told Graham was sentenced by a Victorian court for the offences in January this year.

Graham’s actions caused public outcry in Queensland as fears grew that bad blood between rival gangs was spilling on to the streets.

He was due to be sentenced following the trial’s conclusion on October 1, however the hearing was delayed when he told his legal counsel he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and they sought time to seek a psychiatric evaluation.

Graham was on the Gold Coast to visit family and celebrate his daughter’s birthday when he had a “chance encounter” with Mr Teamo that quickly escalated outside the Sony store on the second level of the Robina shopping complex.

CCTV showed the two men facing-off before they were interrupted by a Good Samaritan who innocently handed Graham a $10 note that he inadvertently dropped, probably while he pulled a gun from his bum bag.

Mere seconds later, Graham opened fire, sending Mr Teamo and shoppers running for cover.

The first shot hit Mr Teamo cleanly through the arm, the second struck Ms Devitt in the hip.

Graham was arrested by police in Melbourne two days later.

Justice Wilson took into account a period of 17 months Graham had spent in jail since the shooting by reducing the overall head sentence as the time was not able to be declared.

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