Christopher Cunningham, Benjamin Moarefi plead not guilty over shooting in Theodore
Alleged gunman Christopher Cunningham and sidekick Ben Moarefi have pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a shooting in a suburban Canberra street.
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A birthday party in Canberra’s southern suburbs came to a sudden halt when a man in the street fired a rifle into the air before aiming towards a group of nearby men, hitting one in the leg, a court has heard.
The man who police allege pulled the trigger, Christopher Cunningham, later rang his ex-partner in a panic and told her “I’m going away for five to ten years”, it is alleged.
Cunningham, 33, of Calwell, has pleaded not guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on Graham O’Neil, and to discharging a loaded firearm on Freda Gibson Cct in Theodore on March 2 last year.
Alleged sidekick Benjamin James Moarefi, 29, has pleaded not guilty to aiding and abetting Cunningham and to possessing a prohibited firearm.
Prosecutor Marcus Dyason told an ACT Supreme Court jury they would hear evidence that Cunningham rang one of his exes after the shooting and said words to the effect of “I have done something stupid and need to come and say goodbye ... I’m going away for five to ten years”.
In a conversation with another ex, it is alleged Cunningham was told he shouldn’t shoot people, and replied: “They shouldn’t talk shit and run their mouths”.
Cunningham’s barrister, Travis Jackson, said three of his client’s former partners had given statements to police this month and said it was doubtful they were coming forward “with a sense of altruism”.
Mr Jackson said the witness who identified Cunningham as the shooter, Alex Dimitrov, was completely blind in one eye and partially blind in the other.
He said many of the key witnesses were involved in “nefarious activities”.
He said the case was not “black and white” and said there was “so much grey” the jury would be left in doubt about what happened and would find the accused duo not guilty.
Moarefi’s barrister, Astrid Haban-Beer, said the case against her client was “circumstantial and ... it just doesn’t add up”.
Mr O’Neil, giving evidence, said he ran away from the warning shots when he was shot in the back of the leg.
“I was running up the road ... I was like, ‘oh shit’ ... I fell out of my thongs and I just kept running,” he said.
The bullet went straight through Mr O’Neil’s right thigh, and he later had surgery to clean out the wound.
Three brothers each told the court they had little memory of the night other than buying and drinking alcohol.
The trial, before Justice John Burns and a jury, continues.