Woy Woy: Peter Gavranich and James Wilkinson-Moreau deny shooting drug lackey
Two drug dealers who “f’n smashed” and pistol whipped a lackey when he failed to sell enough cocaine have denied later breaking into a house and shooting at him, a court has heard.
Central Coast
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Two men “pistol whipped” a lackey and threatened to “put a bullet” in his head in front of his partner and kids if he didn’t sell more cocaine quickly enough, but denied later breaking into a house and shooting at him, a court has heard.
Peter Graham Gavranich, 31, of Ettalong Beach, and James Wilkinson-Moreau, 28, of Woy Woy, faced Gosford District Court on Thursday where they were arraigned to face trial over an alleged violent home invasion and shooting on May 6, 2023.
Charge sheets allege the pair forced their way into a house on Byron Close, at Woy Woy, while armed with a gun, assaulted a male occupant and opened fire at him with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and intimidation.
The pair both pleaded “not guilty” as each charge on the indictment was read out.
However both men also confirmed their earlier guilty pleas to several other offences including supplying drugs, assault and possessing a prohibited weapon.
An agreed set of facts in relation to their guilty pleas states Gavranich and Wilkinson-Moreau started pressuring an acquaintance to sell ounces of cocaine on their behalf in 2022.
When the man failed because he “did not have the right connections or customers” Gavranich and Wilkinson-Moreau went around to his Umina Beach home and violently assaulted him about 6pm on February 21, 2023.
The facts state Gavranich punched the man in the face and held a gun to his head and threatened to “put a bullet in your head in front of your missus and your kids” if he didn’t do better at selling cocaine.
The man later went to hospital with a broken nose and a cut above his left eye which required about 16-17 stitches.
Gavranich was later recorded talking about the assault saying “last time I seen him, when he f--ked up ... I f--ken smashed him” while Wilkinson-Moreau was recorded saying Gavranich “pistol whipped him”.
The facts state the victim was so scared he got his parents to take out a bank loan of $20,000 to buy his way out of selling any more cocaine for the duo.
The Crown will allege at trial that Gavranich and Wilkinson-Moreau continued to pressure the victim before eventually going to a house at Woy Woy where they allegedly broke in and fired a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Gavranich was arrested on September 21, 2023, at the 7-Eleven service station at Avoca Beach where he was driving while disqualified and had a pocket knife hidden in the elastic of his shorts.
Police later searched Gavranich’s Ocean View Drive address where they found a fully loaded seven-shot revolver hidden in his kitchen exhaust fan and 231.94g of meth.
After further investigations police also arrested and charged Wilkinson-Moreau.
The court heard the trial was expected to take about seven to 10 days and was set down for October 7.
Neither of the men applied for bail and it was refused.
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