A Canberra man has been found guilty of attempted murder after he shot up and firebombed the house of a former bikie gang leader, leaving a suburban street stained with blood and neighbours rattled.
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Axel Sidaros, 25, has been on trial in the ACT Supreme Court for more than a fortnight.
On Thursday, a jury found him guilty of seven charges relating to the June 28, 2018 attack on former ACT Comancheros president Peter Zdravkovic at his home in Calwell. Mr Zdravkovic lost the top of his middle finger in the incident.
The charges included attempted murder, arson, inflicting grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary, attempted arson, shooting a firearm and endangering life, and riding in a stolen car.
Sidaros was found not guilty of an eighth charge; shooting into Mr Zdravkovic's parent's house down the street after the firefight.
The prosecution's case was that Mr Sidaros was one of four hooded assailants to sneak onto the property of Mr Zdravkovic, shoot at him through a glass door, and set alight his BMW, Mercedes-AMG, and black Holden ute. Mr Zdravkovic shot back at the men.
As bullets smashed the glass, Mr Zdravkovic's partner told the court he said, "Get down on the floor". She said she felt "helpless" and "there was blood everywhere" after the attack.
The court also heard there was petrol on their living room floor, which didn't manage to join up with petrol poured outside. A bullet was fired through a neighbouring fence and narrowly missed a man in bed.
The next day, police and forensic experts examined the scene of the crime and found bullet cartridges that turned out to be consistent with coming from Sidaros' Adler lever action shotgun.
The court was shown footage of Sidaros using the gun at a shooting range the day before the attack.
As well as the firearm, police seized ammunition, two more guns, tan work boots and gloves from Sidaros' O'Malley home. Prosecutor Trent Hickey said the gloves and boots looked similar to those shown in CCTV footage.
An outlaw motorcyle gang expert told the court Sidaros' clothes indicated he was a full member of the Comancheros bikie gang.
There was a "hit" out on Mr Zdravkovic after a split with the gang, the court heard, and Sidaros was aligned with the new president's faction.
Mr Zdravkovic sent photos of himself burning his Comanchero colours to gang members. The gang expert said the act would have "universally offended every member of the gang"; a point Sidaros' defence barrister, Ian McLachlan, reiterated to emphasise the "large pool" of potential assailants.
He said police "threw the net out far and wide" in an attempt to identify Mr Zdravkovic's attackers. No one besides Mr Sidaros has been arrested over the incident.
"There were a number of people lining up to have a go [at Mr Zdravkovic]," Mr McLachlan said.
Zachary Froome, 21, was in a neighbouring cell to Sidaros at the Alexander Maconochie Centre last year. He testified he told him he "was the one with the shotgun" in the CCTV, and joked with him that the worst part about the attempted murder charge was the "attempted" part.
Mr McLachlan told the court Mr Froome was of "deplorable" character and made up a "pack of lies" to get bail and a lesser sentence.
But Mr Hickey argued Mr Froome couldn't have known certain details about the attack if his account wasn't true.
Sidaros did not react when the jury read its verdicts. He has been in custody since September, 2018, and is due to be sentenced on January 30, 2020.