A former bikie boss who was targeted in a shooting and arson attack allegedly told police three weeks prior to the incident that rivals who came to his south Canberra home would not leave alive.
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Peter Zdravkovic, 38, is on trial in the ACT Supreme Court, having pleaded not guilty to the unauthorised possession of a rifle and knuckledusters.
The charges stem from a police search of Mr Zdravkovic's house in Calwell on June 30, 2018, less than two days after four disguised intruders had stormed the property.
Opening the Crown case on Monday, prosecutor Patrick Dixon told the jury that against the backdrop of divisions within the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang, the attackers had poured petrol around Mr Zdravkovic's property and set it alight.
He said a police officer who had attended the scene a short time after this incident would give evidence that, in the aftermath, Mr Zdravkovic said the assailants had shot at him and that he had fired back.
Mr Dixon told the jury that Mr Zdravkovic had refused to tell this officer where he had put the gun he had used.
As a result, Mr Dixon said, police obtained a search warrant and found a .270 Sako rifle in a roof cavity in the laundry at Mr Zdravkovic's home.
Officers also discovered bladed knuckledusters in a shed on the property, the prosecutor said.
According to Mr Dixon, a forensic biologist found "extremely strong support" for the proposition that DNA on both weapons came from Mr Zdravkovic.
Mr Zdravkovic was not legally authorised to possess either item, Mr Dixon told the jury of five men and seven women.
After defence barrister Jason Moffett declined to make an opening statement, Mr Dixon called evidence from Leading Senior Constable Dale Ohlmus, a police officer attached to the ACT Policing specialist gang unit Taskforce Nemesis.
Leading Senior Constable Ohlmus told the court he went to Mr Zdravkovic's home 22 days prior to the attack because of concerns about the accused's safety.
The visit was prompted, the officer said, by an article in The Canberra Times detailing the arrest of Alexander Miller, who was a Canberra Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang member at that time.
He told the court he had asked whether Mr Zdravkovic had seen this article, which referred to Miller having driven "past the president of a rival faction of the gang" while armed with a sawn-off .38 rifle.
Leading Senior Constable Ohlmus said he understood that leader to be Mr Zdravkovic, who indicated he was not worried about his own safety despite having read the story.
Mr Zdravkovic, according to the officer, said words to the effect that "if they returned, they won't leave alive".
"He explained that he is happy with our work, but says he could do it himself," Leading Senior Constable Ohlmus told the court, reading from his work diary.
The officer said he was not surprised by Mr Zdravkovic's attitude because outlaw motorcycle gang members did not usually demonstrate "an open willingness" to ask for police for help or to assist in investigations.
Just over three weeks after this conversation, Leading Senior Constable Ohlmus told the jury, he was called to the shooting and arson attack at Mr Zdravkovic's home in the middle of the night.
He said he helped arrange the collection of home CCTV footage, some of which was played to the jury on Monday, depicting the attack.
The trial, which is expected to take four days, continues.