Court deals new blow to family of innocent shooting victim Adrian Pacione

The family of a young man shot dead in a revenge plot gone wrong has been further devastated after a court ruled it could not take into account their grief.

Adrian Pacione with his sister, Emily, and father, Paul. Picture: Facebook

The family of shooting victim Adrian Pacione has suffered further devastation after a court ruled it could not take into account their grief over his mistaken identity killing, for which no one is being held accountable.

Mr Pacione, 20, was watching Gran Torino in his mate’s Lalor home on July 18, 2020 when it was stormed by a group of men, including Adam Tiba, who was seeking revenge over a failed drug deal in which he and a co-offender were stabbed.

The thugs were blocked from entering the Ella Court home before four shots were fired through a window, fatally striking Mr Pacione in the head.

Mr Pacione’s family was last year gutted to learn that prosecutors had dropped the charge of murder against Tiba due to evidence inadequacies.

Adrian Pacione was fatally shot while in his friend’s Lalor home. Picture: Supplied

They suffered a further blow on Tuesday when the Supreme Court of Victoria decided to formally disregard their expressions of sorrow and grief at losing their loved one.

Justice John Dixon ruled the victim impact statements of Mr Pacione’s father, Paul, and sister, Emily, were “inadmissible” because they referred to the devastation of his death, which forms no part of the single charge of aggravated burglary faced by Tiba.

“I am satisfied that the grief reaction of the relatives to the killing of their son and brother is not actually relevant to the (sentencing) analysis,” Justice Dixon ruled.

Ms Pacione told the Herald Sun there was no justice for her brother.

“It’s just devastating that we can’t have a voice for Adrian and how there has been no justice for my brother,” the sister said.

“It’s a very hard time right now, we are very saddened and still grieve every day. It’s sad no one got charged for my brother.”

The decision to rule out the family’s victim impact statements was fought by Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu, who argued “one can’t disentangle the death that occurred proximate to the aggravated burglary”.

“We say if Mr Tiba had not attended (the home) there would not have been the death of Mr Pacione. The fact that he was present was the only reason Mr Pacione is deceased,” Mr Porceddu said.

“We say that’s relevant in making an assessment of the seriousness of the aggravated burglary … taking into account the loss of life.”

Tiba and his co-offenders Abdullah Hammoud and Tahmid Rahman tried to force their way into the Lalor home before it was blasted by shots, including one that killed Mr Pacione — a completely “innocent bystander”.

Tahmid Rahmam tried to force his way into the Lalor home with Adam Tiba and Abdullah Hammoud. Picture: David Geraghty

Tiba, who pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, has been on bail since September 2021 following a family medical crisis.

He spent 345 days in pre-sentence detention, with both prosecution and defence agreeing a community corrections order would be an appropriate sentence.

It is due to be handed down on Thursday.