Two men got high on ice before going on what prosecutors allege was a bizarre yet incredibly serious drug-fuelled crime spree, during which the pair allegedly shot and stabbed a man before kidnapping two people, carjacking an elderly couple at gunpoint and robbing a military shop, a jury has heard.
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One of the accused, Rodney Bloxsome, 49, is also charged with raping a woman during the days-long incident.
Both Mr Bloxsome and Damien Featherstone, 30, have pleaded not guilty to the most serious offences with which they are charged.
Their defence barristers say the pair were acting in self-defence when they shot and stabbed the man, and that the other alleged victims were lying about the course of events that followed.
"This case involves a bizarre yet incredibly serious crime spree," prosecutor Anthony Williamson told the jury at the opening of the ACT Supreme Court trial on Tuesday.
"It's about the incredibly poor decisions ice can cause people to make."
Mr Williamson said Mr Featherstone had come to Canberra from NSW and met up with Mr Bloxsome when they began to take ice at a home in Narrabundah in February last year.
There were other people at the home, but it was when one woman arrived that the night "took a very sharp turn for the worse", Mr Williamson said.
The woman had been dropped off by friends but Mr Featherstone allegedly flipped out and thought her friends were going to come back and rob them.
He wanted everyone to "tool up", and go rob a gun shop, the jury was told.
But one of the men didn't want to do that, which allegedly infuriated Mr Featherstone who prosecutors say then shot the man in the leg.
Mr Williamson said the man began to scream and that agitated Mr Bloxsome, who allegedly stabbed the man when he refused to shut up and stop screaming.
The prosecutor said the woman and another man were forced into a car and driven to a home in Casey where they were made to stay for days unless out helping the accuseds commit crimes.
It's alleged they interrogated the woman while they were under the continued mistaken belief that they were going to be robbed and she knew about it, he said.
Mr Bloxsome allegedly held a knife to her throat and broke the skin.
At one stage, Mr Bloxsome, without any alleged involvement from his co-accused, allegedly took the woman into the garage and raped her three times.
Later, they left the house and carjacked an elderly couple leaving the Ainslie football club after lunch.
Still under the belief there was a looming conflict they allegedly broke into a military shop in Fyshwick hoping to steal guns.
Mr Featherstone’s barrister John Purnell SC said the alleged victim had come at the accused with a machete when the man acted in self-defence and shot him.
He also warned the jury there were multiple versions of the alleged kidnapping and urged them to wait until they had heard all the evidence before making up their mind.
The barrister for Mr Bloxsome, James Stewart, said this was a case about “ratbags and ruffians” and there would be questions about what was true and what wasn’t.
Mr Stewart said his client too had acted in self-defence in the stabbing, and he told the jury they would have to consider whether in the man's intoxicated state he believed he had to act to protect himself.
He also said of the alleged crime spree that the woman was a willing participant and along for the ride.
“She was part of it from go to whoa,” he told the jury.
But she was lying about what happened to avoid being prosecuted, he said.
Both men are charged with forcible confinement and aggravated robbery. Mr Featherstone is further charged with using an offensive weapon and possessing a firearm without a licence.
He has pleaded guilty to the charge of possession.
Mr Bloxsome is charged with intentional wounding and three counts of rape. He has pleaded guilty to stealing a car but not to the aggravated robbery.
Both have pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges.
The trial continues.
