A DISGRUNTLED customer pointed a gun at a Chinese takeaway shop owner in the Hunter and threatened to shoot if his "rock hard" sweet and sour pork meal was not re-made.
David Brian Shinner fronted Newcastle District Court on Wednesday when arguments were heard over whether he had held a gun near the cook's head in the Branxton restaurant's kitchen or aimed it at him from about 1.8 metres away.
Owner of the former 28 Chinese Takeaway, Danny Yam, may have grabbed the pistol from the gunman and hit him with it, or kicked Shinner hard enough that he went "flying through the air like Bruce Lee", before punching him and pinning him down.
Shinner, 62, has admitted to charges of using an offensive weapon with the intent to commit an indictable offence and possessing an unauthorised pistol. Possessing ammunition without authority will be taken into account.
But, what exactly happened inside the Chinese restaurant on the night of October 30, 2022, was unclear and will have to be determined by Judge Troy Anderson when he hands down Shinner's sentence later this week.
Shinner had placed an order with the business that evening and was disappointed with his sweet and sour pork meal.
The court heard he had described it as coming in "two parts", was "rock hard" and had demanded the kitchen re-make it.
He first went to 28 Chinese Takeaway to complain, left, and came back with a firearm stashed in a bag.
He was ultimately pinned down by Mr Yam, who owned the shop with his wife Jane, then fled.
Mr Yam gave evidence in court via a Cantonese interpreter on Wednesday about what he claimed happened in the chaotic moments in between.
Mr Yam said Shinner seemed to "lose his temper" when they refused his request and was in the kitchen about 1.8 metres away when Shinner pulled a pistol from the bag on the counter and pointed it at him.
He claimed Shinner entered through the bi-fold doors and held the gun at his head.
"He pointed the gun at me and said that 'unless you give me my order I'm gonna shoot you'," Mr Yam said.
"At that time I continued to do my cooking because I've got another order I have to complete."
Mr Yam gave evidence that he pushed the gun away, causing Shinner to drop it, then Mr Yam picked it up and used it to hit Shinner with it.
The pair left the kitchen and a scuffle continued outside.
Mrs Yam gave evidence that she saw the gun pointed at her husband's head and "was so shaken and frightened" that she didn't know what to do.
She told the court she saw her husband swing at Shinner and they fought.
A third witness, another customer at the takeaway shop on the night, gave evidence he had seen the "old man" go through the bi-fold doors to the kitchen, but couldn't see a gun or anything in his hands.
The witness said he saw the cook - Mr Yam - run towards the bi-fold doors and give Shinner a flying kick.
"Old mate that was yelling come flying back through the bi-fold doors after the cook kicked him," he said.
"I seen the old fella come flying through the doors then the cook come out and threw a couple of punches."
Shinner's defence barrister argued he had been adamant ever since his arrest that he did not point the gun at Mr Yam's head in the kitchen of the Chinese takeaway shop, while others had given differing accounts of what happened.
Judge Anderson noted what Shinner did by attending with the gun was "completely mad", but it was hard to reconcile the idea of a firearm being close to Mr Yam's head before he managed to send Shinner "flying through the air like Bruce Lee" with a kick.
The defence barrister put it to Mr Yam that he had left Shinner saying he couldn't breathe, and had tried to make Shinner's crime sound worse to police so that he himself wouldn't get in trouble.
Mr Yam disagreed.
The court heard Shinner had lived an offence-free life for decades, had a troubled background, lived with health conditions and was clearly not thinking rationally on the night.
He has already spent one year and four months behind bars on the charges.
Judge Anderson will make a finding on the facts and hand down his sentence on Friday.
