The shooting on November 14, 2021, came more than a year after the couple’s marriage ended — to the offender’s “complete shock”, his barrister Jim McGarvie said.
Prosecutor David Cordy told Shepparton County Court the couple was together for 16 years and had two children together.
On the day of the shooting, the children were in the care of the offender. He had drunk four beers and his ex-wife believed he was drunk, so she brought her partner along to collect the children.
The two men got into a physical altercation after the woman and children left, and later the offender told his ex-wife on the phone that he was going to shoot her partner and drove to his house.
He pulled up outside the house about 8.10pm and fired two shots from his car using a .22 calibre firearm, leaving two bullet holes in the front door.
The ex-wife’s partner was inside and called police, who later arrested the offender and seized ammunition and four registered firearms from his home.
Mr McGarvie told the court the gun was already in the offender’s car on the day and it wasn’t premeditated.
The court heard the offender, who has not been named for legal reasons, had no serious mental health conditions, nor issues with drugs or alcohol.
But Mr McGarvie said that on the day of the shooting, the man’s “emotional stress” had obscured his capacity for rational thought.
Delivering her sentencing remarks on November 9, Judge Fiona Todd said the offender’s conduct constituted family violence.
“Even in the most emotionally stressful situations, there is no warrant to express frustration and anger through violence,” she said.
While no victim impact statements were made to the court, Judge Todd said she sentenced him on the basis that he imposed terror on both his ex-wife and her partner.
She also wondered that if the firearm had been properly stored, requiring the man to go through the steps of unlocking a safe, whether he may have “cooled off” and not gone through with it.
Judge Todd took into account the offender’s early plea, full admissions to police, remorse, family and community support and found the prospects of his full rehabilitation were excellent.
The man was sentenced to 10 months’ jail with a 30-month community corrections order to be served on his release — including 250 hours of unpaid community work — and a $600 fine.
The man pleaded guilty to making a threat to inflict serious injury and discharging a firearm at a premises with reckless disregard for safety.
He also pleaded guilty to related summary charges of unlawful assault, failure to properly store a firearm and failure to properly store ammunition.
• If you are experiencing family violence, 24/7 help is available: phone 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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