ANGUS Osborne has been acquitted of shooting a man in the neck during a minor dispute outside a house at Waratah West last year, despite the victim identifying him as the gunman.
A jury took about 90 minutes on Thursday to reject the evidence of the 36-year-old who said he saw Osborne, now 22, holding a gun after he was shot in the driveway of his home in Cooksey Close on January 24.
The jury did find Osborne guilty of possessing the shortened rifle used in the shooting after the loaded gun was found in a car at Wallsend the next day.
Osborne remains behind bars and will be sentenced in November.
The 36-year-old had given evidence that he was shot in the neck, the bullet lodging in his throat, after arguing briefly with a man, who he identified as Osborne.
The jury heard there was a history of animosity between the pair over the sale of a car when the 36-year-old said he was woken to a noise outside his home about 4am.
He said the pair argued before the 36-year-old said he walked down the driveway and heard footsteps behind him.
He said he turned just in time to see a flash and only realised he had been shot in the neck when he could not breathe.
He told the jury he saw Osborne standing there with the gun after the shooting before he fled.
Osborne pleaded not guilty to discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of a shortened firearm, denying he was the man who shot the 36-year-old.
The only issue during the trial was identification and the jury must have been left with some doubt about the 36-year-old's version because they returned after deliberating for only 90 minutes and found Osborne not guilty.
The jury found Osborne guilty of possessing the shortened rifle after hearing evidence that the gun had been found in a Gucci satchel bag inside a seat pocket in front of where he was sitting at the time of his arrest.
The gun was later test-fired and an analysis revealed the ammunition matched a fired cartridge recovered at the scene of the shooting in Waratah West.
Prosecutors also said DNA testing revealed Osborne could not be excluded as a contributor to a mixed profile recovered from two areas on the firearm, including the grip, and that a DNA profile matching Osborne was found on the trigger.
Osborne's phone was seized and analysed and police uncovered images showing the firearm and Gucci satchel bag.
