A rumoured Canberra paedophile has described his shock at being shot in the face after his friend tried, but failed, to put to bed "bullshit" talk about him being "a kiddie fiddler".
The man gave evidence in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday, when a jury was also shown a police interview conducted with him a week after he was shot in Spence last year.
The alleged gunman, Sugimatatihuna Bernard Gabriel Mena, 24, is facing trial in that court on charges of attempted murder, an alternative allegation of intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm, discharging a firearm in an act endangering life, and aggravated burglary.
Co-accused Bradley Joe Roberts, 24, and Rebecca Dulcie Parlov, 25, are charged only with aggravated burglary. Each of the trio has pleaded not guilty.
In his evidence, the shooting victim said he had been driving a female friend, who cannot be named, around Canberra's north "for drug deals" early one morning in March 2021.
He said rumours he was "a kiddie fiddler" had been circulating for about a week at this stage, and he confronted Roberts about them in a Bonner car park after one such deal.
"I asked [Roberts] if he'd called me a paedo," the man told the court.
"If someone's gonna say that, say it to me [sic] face because that's the worst thing you can say about someone. At least have the balls to say it to my face."
The victim indicated he challenged Roberts to "whack on and that", but Roberts expressed a desire to go and get "Sugi" first.
The man told the court he subsequently continued driving around Canberra with his friend, who was fielding messages and calls from Parlov in the hours that followed.
He said he could hear Parlov accusing his friend of protecting him and expressing "disgust" because she thought the rumours about him being "a kiddie fiddler" were true.
The victim, who called Parlov's brother to discuss her "losing the plot and making up allegations", ended up going with his friend to her home in Spence.
He said his friend continued trying to convince Parlov the rumours were "all bullshit", but the accused woman "wouldn't have a bar of it" and said she wanted to talk to him.
The man said Parlov and Roberts subsequently entered the home, inside which he picked up a knife from a kitchen bench because he feared he was going to be attacked.
During the police interview played to the court on Wednesday, he told investigators Mena came in behind the other two and "all of a sudden, out of nowhere, pulled out a gun".
"Then, bam!" the man said, his left arm bandaged as he described being shot in the limb, his stomach and his face.
Asked whether Mena had said anything, the victim replied: "Something about me being a kiddie fiddler."
"I was shocked," he said, adding that he had also felt "sore, light-headed [and] pissed".
Under cross-examination by Mena's barrister, James Sabharwal, on Wednesday, the victim was shown text messages he and his girlfriend had exchanged in March 2021.
In one of them, he told his partner he needed to fork out $750 within the next hour or there would be trouble as a result of his decision to quit a bikie gang.
But the victim told Mr Sabharwal the content of the messages had been "a lie", describing himself as "a druggo" and "a fiend".
He said he would make things up to get money for drugs and to provide an excuse to stay away from his partner, "because me and her, we have our ups and downs".
Later, the victim denied Mr Sabharwal's suggestion that he had not called police after being shot because he was "scared of the bikies", saying he simply did not like police.
He also questioned the barrister's suggestion that nominating Mena as the person who had shot him was "the easy way out".
"Why would you say that?" he asked.
Mr Sabharwal's cross-examination is set to continue on Thursday.
His fellow defence counsel Keegan Lee, for Parlov, and Mary Keaney, for Roberts, have not yet had the opportunity to cross-examine the man.
