James Shearer, 27, jailed after shooting cop gun at Canberra Hospital
A gunman, known to drink watered-down petrol when he ran out of alcohol, has been sentenced in court after he nearly wound up dead when he stole a police officer’s gun and fired shots while under guard at Canberra Hospital.
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A halfwit meth addict could easily have ended up dead after grabbing a Canberra police officer’s gun from its holster and shooting it four times in a struggle while in hospital under guard, a court has heard.
James William Shearer, 27, faced the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday where he was sentenced to more than a decade in jail over a string of charges including a series of attempted carjackings, culpable driving, an attempted escape while under police guard, endangering the life of two police officer and biting one on the arm.
Justice David Mossop said it was “remarkable” that Shearer had not been shot and killed by the second police officer guarding him, having stolen the first police officer’s gun and firing it four times in the ensuing struggle.
He said it was “to the credit of the officers involved” that they wrestled the gun from Shearer and used a taser to incapacitate him.
“It is obviously much better to be the subject of a court for sentencing purposes than to be the subject of a coronial inquest,” Justice Mossop said.
The second officer, in a victim impact statement, said he considered drawing his own gun and shooting Shearer, but instead chose to run at Shearer and take him to the ground in a “bear hug”.
The second officer said he did not know whether he was dead or alive when he hit the ground.
Shearer, who has a five-year-old daughter, has amassed what Justice Mossop described as a “significant but not overwhelming” criminal history, including drugs and domestic violence charges, and has no memory of the shooting.
He had a cocktail of methamphetamine, cannabis and ketamine in his system when he was arrested and taken to hospital after a “reprehensible” daylong crime spree on July 18, 2018.
Justice Mossop found Shearer was responsible for all four shots fired from the officer’s gun, and rejected the argument that he did not attempt to point the gun at the officers.
A court-ordered report found Shearer would be a “high risk” of reoffending when released because of his history of drug and alcohol abuse, which included drinking watered down petrol when he ran out of alcohol.
A psychologist found Shearer, who has not previously served jail time, was “on the borderline of extremely low-range intelligence”.
Justice Mossop sentenced Shearer to 11 years and six months jail.
He will be eligible for parole in May 2025.