A man is behind bars after he allegedly shot a car that was carrying a child, then phoned the boy's father to assure him his aim would be better next time.
"Wake the f--- up," Chris James Payne, 36, allegedly said during the phone call, which is said to have occurred about 10 minutes after the shooting in Turner.
Payne faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday, charged with discharging loaded arms at a person and unauthorised possession of a firearm.
The roofer did not enter pleas and cried when he was refused bail.
After reluctantly getting up to leave with ACT Corrective Services officers, he yelled something indecipherable in the tunnel that leads to the court cells.
There was then a loud bang.
In court documents, police say the alleged victim went to a Turner unit in the early hours of May 26 to sort out the sale of a motorcycle.
He had arranged to meet a man known as "Chilli", who was also going to help him settle a feud with Payne.
While "Chilli" was in the bathroom, the alleged victim went outside to his car.
According to police, he saw three people emerge from behind some bushes and come towards him.
One of them, alleged to be Payne, was holding a .22 calibre rifle.
The alleged victim claims he reacted by telling his partner, who had got out of the car to tend to their infant son, to get back into the Mazda.
The woman rushed back into the car, according to police, who say the alleged victim hopped into the driver's seat and took off.
As they fled, Payne is said to have raised the rifle and fired it at the alleged victim.
The bullet ricocheted off the car, police say, causing the alleged victim to duck and drive into a gutter, which popped a tyre.
The alleged victim then drove to City Police Station to report the incident.
During the recorded phone call that followed the shooting, Payne is said to have told the alleged victim's partner to "stay the f--- out of it. It's none of your business".
The alleged victim's partner replied: "Well it is when you f---ing shoot at the car with me and my f---ing child in it."
Payne is then said to have told the alleged victim: "Wake the f--- up. Wake the f--- up. Next time if I do, I won't f---ing miss. You got me, c---?"
Payne applied for bail on Thursday, when Legal Aid duty lawyer Ketinia McGowan proposed a series of conditions.
She said Payne worked six days per week and provided financial support to a number of people, including his dying grandmother and mentally ill brother.
Prosecutor Lauren Knobel opposed bail, arguing Payne was likely to commit crimes and endanger the safety or welfare of others.
Ms Knobel told the court the alleged offending had been "blatant", having occurred in a public place.
She also said Payne had apparently not been deterred by the presence of the alleged victim's partner and child in the car.
Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker ultimately refused bail, finding the risk Payne posed to the community was too great to justify his release.
Ms Walker said Payne and the alleged victim appeared to be involved in an ongoing dispute, which the defendant had indicated a desire to continue.
She also noted Payne, who had a significant criminal history, had failed to appear in court twice in the past.
