‘Liar and ‘leech’ could have shot himself, court told

A barrister has questioned the credibility of a man who was shot at a meeting with two alleged Bandidos bikie associates, saying there’s a possibility he shot himself.

A barrister has questioned the credibility of a man who was shot at a meeting with two bikie associates, calling him a “leech” and a “liar” and saying the possibility he shot himself could not be excluded.

Alleged Bandidos bikie gang associates Sean Brian Irwin and Kenneth James Whittaker are charged with shooting Ashley White during a meeting at Samsonvale in July 2019.

They have pleaded not guilty to one charge each of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The crown alleges Whittaker pulled the trigger and Irwin was his “right hand man”.

During their trial in the Brisbane District Court on Monday, Whittaker’s defence barrister Kim Bryson urged the jury to find her client not guilty, saying the complainant Mr White’s story was “rubbish” and “makes no sense whatsoever”.

Earlier in the trial, the court heard evidence from Mr White and his friend Joshua Smith that when they met with the two men at the end of a dead-end road, Mr Whittaker shot Mr White in the shoulder.

“Ladies and gentlemen if Ashley White and Joshua Smith told you the sky was blue you would double check it yourself,” Ms Bryson told the jury.

“They are both self-interested liars that would say and do whatever was in their own interest.

“They are not people who you could trust to tell the truth and if this wasn’t such a serious matter it would almost be comical that the prosecution say you can rely on those two persons to convict Kenny Whittaker.”

Two alleged Bandidos bikies associates are in court after a man was shot. Picture: Cade Mooney / Sunshine Coast Daily

The court heard evidence that days before the meeting, Mr White had been severely beaten by a man named “Andy the Candyman” over an unpaid drug debt.

“We know he’s a leech,” Ms Bryson said of Mr White.

“In 2019 he was a person who would rack up drug debts and then prevail on his poor parents to bail him out financially.”

She said Mr White was a “violent criminal” who “has a penchant for assaulting people and we know he had access to weapons and extraordinary amounts of ammunition”.

She said a “logical” and “rational” explanation for the incident was that Mr White had been the one to produce the firearm at the meeting because Andy the Candyman hadn’t been there.

“He was angry that he’d received a flogging that included suspected facial fractures,” Ms Bryson put to the jury.

“On the morning of the 13th of July he was angry and agitated and that was according to his own father. He told his parents he was going to shoot the person who bashed him.

“This is why after he was shot with his own firearm that he brought to the meeting, he didn’t go to the hospital immediately, but when he did, he told hospital staff and police that he was shot by accident.”

Ms Bryson said an expert who gave evidence during the trial could not rule out the possibility the gunshot wound was self-inflicted.

Crown Prosecutor Michael Gawrych urged the jury to consider why the meeting had been held in such an isolated location, saying if it was simply to talk, there would be no need for it to be in such a remote area.

“It is perhaps plainly obvious to you ladies and gentlemen that if you hold a gun at someone, aim it, discharge it at their torso you are not intending to simply scare them, you are not intending to give them a touch up, or put them in their place, you are intending to cause them serious bodily injury,” Mr Gawrych said.

“I submit to you it was more a matter of luck that the injury sustained was not worse.”

The trial continues.