A man who broke into the home of someone he thought was a paedophile and shot him in Canberra's north has been sentenced to nearly ten years in jail in the ACT Supreme Court.
Sugimatatihuna 'Sugi' Mena, 24, had several previous convictions and was on five good behaviour bonds when the shooting took place in March 2021.
Mena was previously found guilty of three charges by a jury — attempted murder, aggravated burglary and unlawful discharge of loaded arms.
The court was told that on the night in question, victim 'Mr A' — who Justice David Mossop decided not to name — was shot by Mena inside a home in Spence.
Mena, accompanied by associates Rebecca Parlov and Bradley Roberts who were also found guilty, shot Mr A twice, once in the stomach and once in the face. Mr A was left with bullet fragments all over his body that required surgery to remove.
On the night of the shooting, Parlov and Roberts got in touch with a friend of Mr A, known as 'Ms B' — whose name was suppressed by the court — to purchase methamphetamine.
The group met in a supermarket car park for the drug deal, where Mr A confronted Roberts over a rumour that he was a paedophile.
A fight then broke out and the court heard Roberts had said to Mr A:
"We'll go get Sugi and that, and we will come back and whack you."
Parlov and Ms B were then in contact for the remainder of the night, and around 5:48am Mena, Roberts and Parlov headed to Ms B's address where Mr A was residing.
Roberts and Parlov entered the house, where Mr A pulled a knife out.
Moments later, the court heard Mena entered the home in a mask holding a .22 sawn-off rifle, before calling Mr A a "kiddie fiddler" and shooting him twice.
The trio left the home and Mr A was taken to the hospital where he was put into an induced coma the night of the shooting due to the severity of his wounds, and underwent multiple surgeries to remove bullet fragments over a long period of time.
'Fallen back in with anti-social associates'
In a victim impact statement today, Mr A said he had been affected mentally and physically after the shooting complaining of anxiety, PTSD, ongoing pain, infections and scarring.
"When he looks at himself he is constantly reminded of the shooting," Judge Mossop said.
Judge Mossop said while Mr A was accused of being a paedophile, that was not borne out by evidence and he had no knowledge of where the accusations came from.
The judge referred to Mena's challenging upbringing, telling the court he suffered from PTSD as a result of being sexually assaulted as a child.
He also said that Mena had been assaulted by his own sister, who had bipolar disorder.
Mena kept his head down as Justice Mossop read the results of a psychological assessment that revealed he had attempted suicide on several occasions.
"It is unfortunate that he has fallen back in with anti-social associates," Justice Mossop said.
Mena was sentenced to 9 years and 10 months jail, and won't be eligible for parole until April 2027.
Parlov is due to be sentenced in June after completing a women's drug rehabilitation course in Orange.
