A Bonner resident was shot through his front door while desperately trying to stop two intruders from smashing their way into his home, according to police.
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A young child was also said to be sleeping just metres from the door at the time.
New details about the June 27 incident on Roy Marika Street have emerged in court documents that also reveal the identity of a suspect, Connor John Manns.
Mr Manns, a stonemason of no fixed abode, appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday, charged with unrelated offences of aggravated robbery and theft.
A police bail consideration form, tendered in court, notes that the 23-year-old is a person of interest in relation to the shooting.
It says the victim, who suffered a minor leg wound, was at home with his partner and young children when two people tried to break in.
"Whilst trying to hold the door closed, the victim was shot through the door," police allege in the document.
Mr Manns has not been charged over the incident and his solicitor, Tom Taylor of Hugo Law Group, told the court the inclusion of information about it in the form was "simply prejudicial".
"There's no meat on the bones to substantiate how it is that he is considered a suspect," Mr Taylor said.
Mr Taylor therefore urged magistrate Glenn Theakston to disregard any suggestion Mr Manns was involved in the shooting as the 23-year-old applied for bail on the robbery and theft charges.
Those charges allege Mr Manns, who has pleaded not guilty, teamed up with Zachary Froome to steal $450 from an unknown male, using force, on July 27.
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Court documents reveal police had previously installed a listening device in a Ford Focus registered to Mr Manns' mother.
On the night in question, Mr Manns and Mr Froome could allegedly be heard discussing plans to lure a robbery victim on the pretence of selling him cannabis.
An unidentified person is said to have got into the car in Woden and handed over $450 for drugs, but received nothing in return.
Police claim there was a "scuffle" with this person, who could be heard saying he was only 17 years old, before he got out of the car and the alleged offenders drove off.
CCTV footage from the Woden bus interchange and the Abode Hotel is said to show him sprinting after the Ford Focus as it headed away.
In court on Friday, Mr Taylor said the CCTV and the audio from the listening device did not prove any money was taken or that any violence was used.
He described the case against his client as circumstantial and "not strong".
Mr Taylor accepted that the 23-year-old's criminal history showed there was risk of him reoffending and failing to comply with bail conditions.
But he said neither of these things could be considered likely, and Mr Manns should be released on bail to await his eventual trial.
Prosecutor Kiara Sheridan opposed bail, highlighting Mr Manns' history of violent and dishonest offending.
She said he currently had a negative bank balance and might be incentivised to commit crimes in order to "fund his lifestyle", which was said to involve living between hotels, motels and Airbnbs.
Ms Sheridan also drew attention to numerous past breaches of bail, saying Mr Manns' word he would comply with conditions was "worth very little".
Mr Theakston ultimately decided to grant bail, describing the case against the 23-year-old as being "unusual" and "not the strongest it could be".
The magistrate imposed conditions requiring Mr Manns to live with his father in Harrison, observe a curfew and refrain from contacting Mr Froome.
Mr Manns is due back in court on December 3.
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