Jay Ellison pleads guilty to shooting Nick Pickering at Southport in 2016

JAY Ellison opened fire on another man at close range outside a Southport property because he wanted help a mate, a Gold Coast court has been told.

Jay Ellison pleads guilty to shooting Nick Pickering at Southport in 2016. Photos: Scott Fletcher.

JAY Ellison opened fire on another man at close range outside a Southport property last year because he wanted help a mate, a Gold Coast court has been told.

He fired a pistol into the stomach of Nicholas Pickering, a man he had never met before, after he got wind of a dispute co-accused Jesse James Farmer was having with Mr Pickering over the storage of another person’s furniture, the court was told.

Jay Darrin Ellison, 27, this morning pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court to a raft of offences including armed robbery, malicious acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm, possession of cannabis and stealing.

He shot Mr Pickering in the stomach and thigh about 8.30pm when the man opened the door to his Worendo St home on February 25, 2016.

The court was told the man required two bouts of surgery and was hospitalised for two weeks after the incident, where the court heard Ellison yelled: “Sucked in (expletive)” before opening fire.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Pickering said he “struggled to understand the cowardly attack”.

“I’ll never forget the sparks flying from the barrel and the extreme pain I felt,” Mr Pickering said, through the statement.

The court heard Ellison had never met Mr Pickering but had been aware a property dispute that involved an associate of Mr Pickering and Farmer.

Ellison also pleaded guilty to the robbery of the Varsity Lakes Tavern, which occurred some time after the shooting.

The court heard Ellison and another man entered the tavern and told seven people to get on the ground and put their phones out of reach so they could not call police.

The court was told he got away with about $4,000 and had to be tracked down by the dog squad.

When Ellison was found at a property nearby, police found the rifle used in the robbery in the footwell of a car parked outside, the court heard.

Crown prosecutor Dejana Kovac said the shooting was a “surprise action” performed on an “unsuspecting person” who had no way of defending themselves.

Judge David Kent QC reserved his decision until Thursday.

Jesse Farmer will face a trial at the Southport District Court at a date to be determined for his alleged role in the shooting.