Matthew McGarrigle, Ben Pratt: Pair charged over alleged shooting at Wollongong unit complex
Two Illawarra men are accused of attacking another man at his friend’s unit complex, allegedly shooting him in the knee and assaulting him with a hammer.
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Police claim fingerprints belonging to an Illawarra man were found on a gun allegedly used to shoot a man in the knee cap at a Wollongong apartment block earlier this year.
Matthew McGarrigle, 21, was arrested and charged in June, after a 50-year-old man was shot in the stairwell of his friend’s Market Street apartment on March 24.
Police spent several months searching for a second man allegedly involved, who attacked the alleged victim with a hammer.
On Sunday evening, police arrested 35-year-old Benjamin Pratt during a vehicle stop at Unanderra.
He was charged with discharge firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, aggravated break/enter with intent, armed with intent to commit indictable offence an assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and faced Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday, where Magistrate Robert Walker refused his application for bail.
In documents tendered to the court, it was revealed the lead-up to the alleged attack was captured on CCTV, after McGarrigle and Pratt allegedly ordered a taxi to take them from Mangerton to Wollongong.
Around 8.45pm, police allege the pair arrived at the Market Street complex in a Holden Vectra.
Around 10 minutes later, the alleged victim arrived at the complex to visit his friend. As he walked from the carpark, it’s alleged in the documents that Pratt, armed with a hammer, and McGarrigle, armed with a gun, began running at the 50-year-old man, forcing him into the door of the complex.
The man continually told the armed men “I don’t have a key” before saying “who is this person … Who is this person? I don’t know who this person is”.
In the documents, police claim CCTV of the building captured McGarrigle in possession of a firearm, which he used to knock the surveillance from the wall.
Police allege that after the man failed to open the door of the apartment, a scuffle ensued, before McGarrigle fired a shot into his left knee.
Court documents reveal the pair allegedly took off, while the man was conveyed to hospital for emergency surgery.
On May 20, police raided a Dapto home, where they found a .22 calibre rifle. The firearm was seized and allegedly matched the one that was discharged in Market Street the two months prior. Further tests allegedly uncovered McGarrigle’s fingerprint on the trigger and magazine release of the gun.
McGarrigle was arrested on June 12, and charged with discharge firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, in company assault with intent to rob while armed with a dangerous weapon and armed with intent to commit an indictable offence. He remains bail refused.
During Pratt’s bail application on Wednesday, Magistrate Walker said it appeared to be a “pretty strong” case that would “likely end up with a prison sentence”.
“He has a lengthy criminal record and the nature of the offence is very serious,” he said.
“He was on parole at the time and for that reason I can’t grant bail.”
Pratt broke down in tears after his bail was refused. Both men will return to court in November.