Lake Haven: Jesse Childs and Drew Brown plead guilty to wild shopping centre fracas

It was supposed to be a square-up disguised as a drug deal. But it all went wrong when one man pulled a pistol from his pants and another a knife. Here’s what went down at Lake Haven shops.

The pair produced a gun and a knife at Lake Haven Shopping Centre. (File image)

Two men, aged 23 and 26, have pleaded guilty over a wild fracas at Lake Haven Shopping Centre when the younger man pulled a gun and his older mate produced a knife after being confronted about some alleged robberies, a court has heard.

Jesse James Childs, of Mannering Park, faced Wyong Local Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to reckless wounding, stealing and common assault.

It came after the 26-year-old’s mate Drew Jason Brown, 23, of Blue Haven, previously faced the same court where he pleaded guilty to possessing an unauthorised pistol in public, stealing and two counts of common assault.

An agreed set of facts states Childs and Brown were contacted via Facebook Messenger by another man about allegedly purchasing drugs and they agreed to meet at Lake Haven Shopping Centre.

Unbeknown to Childs and Brown, this other man, 27, and his flatmate, 39, really wanted to lure them into a meeting to confront Brown about some alleged robberies.

Brown and Childs were really lured to Lake Haven Shopping Centre to be confronted about alleged robberies.

The four men met in the underground car park about 6.30pm on January 31 where one of the flatmates got out of a green Toyota Rav4 and approached Brown.

The facts state he confronted Brown saying “you gotta sort out all the people you have robbed” before the “meeting turned volatile”.

The men met in the carpark of Lake Haven Shopping Centre.

Both pairs of men started yelling at each other before Childs grabbed one of the other men’s wallets and Brown “pulled a prohibited pistol from the waistband at the back of his pants”.

Meanwhile “Childs took a large silver knife out from the back of his pants” and pointed it at the men to “aid his escape”.

Childs and Brown yelled at the men to “just get in the f … ing car” while the other two yelled back “nah you go that way and we’ll go this way”.

The facts state Childs dropped the knife at one point before bending down to pick it up and then both he and Brown took off on foot.

The two other men got into the green Rav4 and chased them, which was captured by another driver’s dashcam as they “narrowly missed striking Childs as he ran across the car park”.

Brown pulled a gun, which turned out to be an air pistol similar to this one (pictured), from the waistband of his pants. (File image)

Childs tripped and fell on the gutter where one of the other men jumped out of the car and punched him in the face before kicking him and stomping on him.

The man grabbed the blade of Childs’ knife, which cut the webbing of his hand between his thumb and index finger.

Brown approached with the pistol drawn as the Rav4 driver got out and challenged him to “pull the trigger”.

“Childs got to his feet and swung the knife at (the 39-year-old victim) causing a wound to his left shoulder in excessive self defence,” the facts state.

Brown and Childs ran off with the knife and gun into the shops and all four men fled.

Police attended and established a crime scene before identifying the four men from CCTV and other witnesses.

Childs pleaded guilty in Wyong Local Court on Tuesday.

On his way to the meeting Childs had been drinking a Vodka Cruiser which he discarded on a nearby retaining wall.

Testing revealed both Childs’ and Brown’s DNA on the bottle.

The other man, 39, was later treated at Gosford Hospital for a cut to his hand and a stab wound to his shoulder.

The following day police arrested Brown at his Blue Haven address where they found the gun, which turned out to be an air pistol, under the seat of a car parked outside along with more empty Cruiser bottles.

Childs was arrested on March 15.

He was refused bail to appear at Gosford District Court on February 2 to set a sentencing date.

Brown has been refused bail to appear at the same court on January 19 where he is also facing sentence after pleading guilty to an unrelated aggravated break and enter, robbery with an offensive weapon and trespassing from 2020.