A man who threatened to kill and bragged about an alleged attempted murder was only "talking shit" and displaying "fake bravado", a court heard on the second day of a jury trial.
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Connor John Manns, 25, faced the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday, charged with attempted murder.
"I'll put nine holes in you and fist f--- the holes," he messaged the alleged victim prior to the incident.
"I'll do life for this, IDGAF," he also messaged the alleged victim's partner.
Manns does not deny shooting a pistol three times out of his white Volkswagen Golf R window in the early hours of November 21, 2021, on a suburban Casey street.
However, he has pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempted murder and to the alternative charge of attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm.
Manns argues he did not intend to kill that morning but rather scare another man he was in "a war of words" with, despite telling that man he "wanted to see blood".
"Was he actually intending to kill [the alleged victim] and bring about his death?" defence barrister James Maher asked on Wednesday in his opening address.
"Or was he just trying to scare him?"
Mr Maher did not dispute that firing a gun on a quiet suburban street was an "inherently dangerous" and "stupid" act.
"Mr Manns might not be an angel but he's not a killer," the barrister said.
The early morning incident occurred after Manns and the alleged victim agreed to meet up for what the latter believed would be a "fist fight" that would allow them to "sort it out like men".
"He was threatening to come to my house with my children there," the alleged victim said on Wednesday while giving evidence.
Manns offered a guilty plea to a second alternative charge of intentionally discharging loaded arms at another person, which the court heard the prosecution did not accept.
He also pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to make a threat to cause serious harm.
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The court heard evidence that Manns communicated back and forth with the alleged victim and his partner in the day before the incident.
He sent the woman, with whom the feud first began, messages like: "You're walking a very thin line", "I'm going to make the people you love cry" and, "You wait slut, your house is going to be chopped in half".
In his opening address, prosecutor Marcus Dyason also read out messages Manns sent a friend before the incident in which the alleged offender said "I'm going to kill the whole lot of them" and "I've been preparing for this day".
He messaged the same friend following the alleged attempted murder.
"I tried to kill him last night," Manns said.
"His temple was in the sight. Three times."
Mr Dyason told the jury the numerous text, WhatsApp and Snapchat messages sent by Manns before and after the incident proved his intention to kill.
Mr Maher posited that Manns was "just talking shit", in what he described as his client's wording.
The jury trial is set to continue on Thursday.
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Tim Piccione
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
