A DRUG dealing ice addict who shot his friend with a toy gun modified into a firearm capable of using live ammo has been jailed.
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Police are unsure how or why Wodonga man Kahyde Richter, 25, shot his friend in the foot with the X-Shot gun, similar to a Nerf gun.
The weapon, which could fire rounds of .22 calibre ammunition, were seized during a raid on his Lawrence Street home last Thursday.
His lengthy crime spree involved burglaries, thefts, firearm manufacturing, ice trafficking and a high speed police chase.
Richter had built the gun sometime between April 20 and May 15 at his home.
The weapon could strike the primer of the .22 ammunition and had at some point been fired into his friend’s right foot.
The bullet caused non-life threatening injuries requiring surgery. Wodonga Magistrates’ Court heard Richter’s life had spiralled out of control after he arrived home at age 14 and found his sister dead.
Despite being given multiple chances in court over several years to receive help, Richter knocked back the offers. His latest crime spree started last November after he broke into a staff room at an emergency accommodation property in Phillips Street.
A staff phone and petty cash cheque were stolen.
Richter was with two others early on December 21 when the co-accused used pavers to smash the front window of Twin City Tattoo in High Street.
A motorbike was taken back to his home but was returned by his father the same day after repercussions from an outlaw bikie gang.
Items were stolen also stolen from the BCF store at the Wodonga Homemaker Centre in April, some of which were later found at his house.
Richter drove a car in a high speed chase the following month and fled on foot spinning out of control and crashing.
Police found evidence of drug trafficking between April 1 and his arrest last week.
His lawyer Mario Vaccaro had called for a community corrections order in court which would have freed Richter from custody.
But Magistrate Stella Stuthridge said he had already been given multiple chances.
Mr Vaccaro said his client was using ice to cope, but Ms Stuthridge said he had “used that chip already”.
Richter has been a chronic user of ice over several years, has 11 pages of prior offences and was on a suspended sentence from 2013 during the latest spree.
He appeared hostile and aggressive in the dock of the Wodonga Court.
Mr Vaccaro said Richter would face a revolving door of jail sentences if he didn't sort himself out.
Richter, who has matters pending in NSW, was sentenced to 19 months in jail and will be eligible for parole in eight months.
He shook his head multiple times and looked at his partner in the court after being handed the sentence before being led away.
