Armed with a sawn-off rifle, Justin John Meale still felt like he had brought a knife to a gun fight in a standoff straight out of a TV western, a court has heard.
Meale, 31, and Clinton "Rocky" Pollock had traded text messages with increasing hostility after a drug deal had gone awry in September 2018, a Brisbane Supreme Court jury was told.
Meale thought Mr Pollock may have a semi-automatic weapon but still decided to "teach him a lesson", the court heard.
He arrived with three others at Mr Pollock's home north of Brisbane late at night on Father's Day armed with his sawn-off rifle loaded with one bullet.
Mr Pollock approached them at his front gate at Deception Bay with his hand in his pocket before it went silent in a "weird standoff", the jury was told.
"It's like a scene from a movie. I don't know if you have ever watched that American series Justified - (it's like) who drew first?," defence barrister Greg McGuire told the jury.
"That's the world Justin Meale was living in at the time - straight out insane."
Meale thought Mr Pollock looked "sketchy" as he approached and feared he was going to get "sprayed", the court heard.
"I was scared thinking I have pretty much taken a knife to a gun fight with a single shot .22," Meale told police.
"He was walking out like he had something.
"I was thinking 'alright I've just got one shot, if he is going to shoot me, I will shoot him first'."
Meale claimed Mr Pollock "twitched" during the standoff as if he was about to pull something out of his pocket.
"As soon as I saw him do that I just went 'boom' ... I got him first," Meale told police.
Mr Pollock, 35, was shot in the torso at the Deception Bay house and died soon afterwards.
Meale told police he was not trying to kill Mr Pollock.
Police did not find a weapon at Mr Pollock's home when they arrived.
Meale accused Mr Pollock's family of disposing of it.
Mr McGuire said Mr Pollock may have been "mad and bad enough" to approach Meale's group unarmed after being described at the murder trial as a "knock you out one hit kind of guy" and "someone you didn't want to p*** off".
Living in a world where "every Tom, Dick and Harry had a gun", the defence barrister said Mr Pollock's actions could have made Meale "honestly and reasonably but mistakenly believe he had one".
Crown prosecutor Danny Boyle said Mr Pollock was "no angel" but told the jury there was no evidence he had a gun that night.
He said Meale enticed Mr Pollock to the front gate and waited until he was close enough before shooting.
"The Crown case is pretty simple really. When he (Meale) went around there he was always going to shoot Clinton Pollock," Mr Boyle said.
"There was going to be a conflict, and he (Meale) knew it."
Meale has pleaded not guilty to murder.
The trial before Justice Thomas Bradley continues.
