Mick Denigan of ‘Mick’s Whips’ fame pleads not guilty over shooting

COLOURFUL Territory whip maker Mick Denigan shot an axe-bearing intruder in the leg and allegedly told him: ‘You have five seconds to get the f*** off my property or the next one will be going in your head,’ a court has heard

Whip maker Mick Dennigan

UPDATED: Colourful Territory whip maker Mick Denigan shot an axe-bearing intruder in the leg and allegedly told him: “You have five seconds to get the f*** off my property or the next one will be going in your head,” the Supreme Court has heard.

Denigan, the owner of rural area business Mick’s Whips, on Monday pleaded not guilty to a single count of unlawfully causing serious harm by shooting Thomas McIntyre in the thigh.

The court heard Denigan would be claiming he acted in self defence, having later told police he needed to fire the gun at Mr McIntyre to fend off what he thought was a looming attack from him and two other men.

Crown Prosecutor John Ibbotson said in his opening address to the jury that they would hear evidence Denigan fired at Mr McIntyre from about 2.4m away.

Mr Ibbotson said Mr McIntyre was carrying the axe in one hand and a can of XXXX Gold in his other hand as he stepped through Denigan’s locked front gate shortly before midnight on February 18 last year.

Mr McIntyre said he heard a loud bang and fell to the ground moments after stepping on to Denigan’s isolated rural area property down an unlit dirt road at Fly Creek.

Two mates Mr McIntyre was with helped him to his feet and he used the axe as an improvised walking stick to hobble back to a waiting ute.

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The trio met police at the Noonamah Tavern and Mr McIntyre was taken to hospital, where he spent 12 weeks.

Mr McIntyre told the court he had pleaded guilty to going armed with an offensive weapon but denied he planned to attack Denigan.

“I took the axe because I was worried about dogs,” he said.

Asked whether he dropped his can of beer before being shot, he said: “Well I live in the Northern Territory, I don’t waste beer.

“My plan was to take the beer so I could have a relaxing conversation with Mr Denigan.”

Denigan had been in a sexual relationship with a woman named Chantelle Holden, whose brother, Michael Holden, accompanied Mr McIntyre to the property.

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Mr Holden said: “I saw a flash, like a gun went off, then I went through the gate to help Tom get up off the ground.”

Mr Holden said he knew Denigan after accompanying him on crocodile hunting trips.

The third man to go to Denigan’s property, driver William Allan, said after Mr McIntyre was shot he called “911” for help, because it was the only number he knew to call in an emergency.

The trial, before Justice Anthony Graham and a jury, continues.