Jamie Christopher Hanlon jailed over home invasion shooting

A man who shot a drug dealer with a sawn-off shotgun after his girlfriend bought a bad batch of drugs then offered meth to an undercover cop in the watch house.

Jamie Hanlon was sentenced to nine years' jail over a shooting in Margate in 2019. Picture: Facebook

A man who shot a drug dealer in the chest during a terrifying home invasion done “in retribution” for a batch of bad drugs has been sentenced to nine years’ jail.

Jamie Christopher Hanlon, 31, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday to a raft of charges including malicious act with intent and unlawful possession of a shotgun and ammunition over the Moreton Bay shooting on February 3, 2019.

Following his dramatic arrest, Hanlon offered an undercover cop in the watch-house drugs he had stashed in his pants which saw him charged with possession of more than 2 grams of methamphetamine.

The court heard Hanlon and his then 19-year-old girlfriend, Tameeka Lee Kelly, invaded a home on McCulloch Ave in Margate following an earlier dispute about poor quality drugs Ms Kelly had purchased from drug dealer Ethan Tyler Richards.

The pair entered the home where Richards lives with his mother about 11am, with Hanlon armed with a sawn-off shotgun.

“You threatened the people there present with the shotgun multiple times, telling them to sit down or you would shoot them,” Justice John Bond said of Hanlon’s actions.

The drug dealer has no recollection of the shooting, but two other witnesses said Richards pulled a revolver and fired a shot that did not hit anyone.

Hanlon then fired back at Richards with the shotgun, the shrapnel hitting his chest and bicep.

Richards sustained life-threatening injuries and was resuscitated multiple times while in the ambulance to hospital where he remained for 19 days.

The Deception Bay couple fled the scene in a car and were arrested shortly after by police.

While in the watch house, Hanlon told an undercover police officer that he would tell police a false story that the firearm discharged because he had dropped it.

He also offered the covert officer some of the 2.5g of pure meth that he had hidden down his pants.

Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco said the shooting had caused the victim significant physical and psychological harm, having left him disabled and with PTSD.

“The defendant is responsible for causing that injury by discharging a firearm at him at close range with intent of causing grievous bodily harm,” she said.

“He discharged the firearm during a pre-planned home invasion that was prosecuted for the purpose of seeking retribution against the victim.”

The court also heard that Hanlon has a 12-year-old daughter and had been previously jailed in 2015 over 10 counts of stealing, 10 counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle and unlawful possession of dangerous drugs.

At the time of the shooting, Hanlon was already on bail for another violent incident about a month earlier where he seriously assaulted another man.

Ms Marco submitted for a sentence of eight to nine years’ jail.

Defence barrister Colin Reid said Hanlon’s pleas of guilty were timely and his criminal history was not in line with this type of violent offending.

He also pointed to the fact Hanlon did not fire his gun until he was fired on.

“His use of drugs escalated at the time of this offence, and the drug was methylamphetamine,” Mr Reid said.

Justice Bond sentenced Hanlon to nine years’ jail and made a serious violence offence declaration.

Having already spent 781 days in pre-sentence custody, he will be eligible for parole on August 2, 2023.