A prospective Canberra bikie gang member who shot up the house of a rival has been jailed for more than four years in jail by the ACT Supreme Court.
Key points:
- Cameron Sharp fired two shots into the home and set fire to two cars in 2017
- The court heard he was provoked by a Facebook post by a rival bikie
- He will be eligible for parole in March 2022
Cameron Sharp, 22, of Canberra fired two shots into the home of the Sergeant at Arms of the Nomads club in 2017, and set two cars alight.
The court heard Sharp was a nominee for the Comancheros motorcycle gang, and had hoped the shooting would see him patched into the club.
It was also revealed in court that Sharp told other people about the attack he was planning before he went to the house.
As well as shooting into the house, he used petrol to set two cars on fire.
The intended victim was at home with his girlfriend and father.
His girlfriend told the court she continued to suffer anxiety and hyper vigilance.
“I am always asking why he did this to me,” she said.
“I relive the incident on a constant basis.”
Three days earlier, the victim — a leader of the Nomads outlaw motorcycle gang — had updated his Facebook status with a post that targeted Sharp. It read:
“The next time someone talks shit about me to you I wouldn’t even bother telling me because I honestly don’t care lol.
“I have a better life/car/family/friends/bike and more money in a week than they see in a year.
“If they had any balls they’d come say it to my face lol so the next time a 18 year old no name commo lover from northside with an ugly baby wants to open his mouth tell him to come say it to me instead of saying it to you. xxx”
Sharp created alibi, tried to cover his tracks
The court heard Sharp had gone to great lengths to plan the shooting, even asking his girlfriend to post a picture of them together on SnapChat, with the comment “when your boyfriend tans your back at 10:30”, in order to provide an alibi.
Prosecutor Mark Fernandez told the court Sharp also tried to hide his tracks by using the message app Wikr, which deletes messages as they are read.
“There has been an issue with drive-by shootings in the [ACT],” Mr Fernandez said.
“This was a bit more.
“This was standing in front of a property and firing at the house and then setting fire to the cars. A normal domestic night turned into a significant point of distress.”
Sharp’s lawyer, James Sabharwal, told the court he was only 20 at the time of the offences.
“It displays a low level of maturity,” he said.
“He was trying to gain acceptance by the motorcycle club.”
Mr Sabharwal said the actions had been serious and thoughtless but said Sharp has now disassociated himself from the club and has accepted responsibility for the crimes.
Chief Justice Helen Murrell acknowledged the victim impact statements.
“The incident would have been terrifying,” she said.
She said two of the victims had been innocently caught up in gang-related retribution.
Sharp is already in jail for other offences, including his part in a violent home invasion in which a dog’s ear was shot off.
Several months after the home invasion the dog killed its owner, 46-year-old Tania Klemke, as she tried to protect a late-night visitor whom the dog had attacked.
The attack on the dog during the burglary was just one of several incidents listed in a coroner’s report on Ms Klemke’s death, which also noted how Ms Klemke had been trying to protect a visitor at the time, telling the man to lock himself in the laundry for safety.
Sharp’s total sentence is now six years and eight months.
He will not be eligible for parole until March 2022.