Christopher Cunningham: Man sentenced to over 3 years jail after shooting man in the leg
Christopher Cunningham has been sentenced for shooting a man through the leg during a party where a drug debt was being collected.
Canberra Star
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A man who fired a bullet through a man’s leg during a birthday party in 2019 has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.
Calwell man Christopher Cunningham, 34, pleaded guilty to one charge of committing an act endangering life and one charge of possessing an unauthorised firearm.
He was originally charged with attempted murder in 2019 which was reduced to grievous bodily harm in 2020 and reduced again to committing an act endangering life.
Two previous trials into this incident were thrown out.
Cunningham shot Graham O’Neil through the leg in March 2019 at Freda Gibson Circuit in Theodore.
The court heard O’Neil and five others attended the birthday party to resolve a drug debt, but proceeded to leave the house after someone said the police were coming.
As O’Neil and his group left, Cunningham fired shots in their direction.
Cunningham, who appeared in the ACT Supreme Court via video link, appeared emotionless as his sentence was handed down.
The sentence has been backdated to 30 December 2020 to take into account over 300 days served in remand.
In sentencing, Justice Mossop said Cunningham did not demonstrate any remorse for his actions.
Senior Counsel Margaret Jones said while her client is a current member of the Rebels Outlaw Motorcycle Club he was not a member of the club at the time of his offending.
A pre-hearing assessment conducted in March 2020 found he had medium to low risk of reoffending.
However Justice Mossop said this assessment did not take into account Cunningham's membership of the Rebels.
Justice Mossop said Cunningham’s membership status with the Rebels should be a consideration when weighing up his suitability for parole.
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