Verdict reached in trial of Rebels bikie charged over rival gang shooting
A jury has found a Rebels bikie member not guilty of organising the shooting of a rival gang member outside a busy Queensland shopping centre.
A jury has found a Rebels bikie boss not guilty of shooting a rival gang member outside a busy Queensland shopping centre.
Joshua John Lucey was acquitted at Brisbane District Court on Monday.
The jury was unable to come to a unanimous or majority verdict on his co-accused, Lucas James Pain, and were discharged by Judge Tony Moynihan.
Both men were on trial at Brisbane District Court, charged with unlawfully wounding the victim with a projectile during a violent encounter outside the Logan Hyperdome in February 2016.
The jury deliberated for more than eight hours before handing down their verdict for Mr Lucey.
Throughout the trial, it was alleged that Mr Lucey, the president of the Logan chapter of the Rebels bikie group, had arranged multiple members of the club to wait in “ambush” at various restaurants around the centre for the victim, Harley Cranston.
Mr Cranston was a member of the Beenleigh chapter of the rival Bandidos bikie group at the time.
CCTV footage captured men chasing Mr Cranston through the centre, before things spilled out onto the nearby street.
Mr Cranston was shot by Pain after he ran back towards his pursuers, armed with a machete.
The Crown contended Lucey was party to the offence by organising the set-up and subsequent chase.
Pain gave evidence that he fired the gun at the ground when he confronted Mr Cranston but denied shooting directly at him or with intent to disable him.
His legal team argued his actions were in self-defence as Mr Cranston had brandished the machete at other gang members.
Lawyers for Lucey denied the act was a set-up and argued he should not be found guilty of being a party to the incident.
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