A victim of a shooting in Glenroy almost six years ago has had to front court for carrying around a live bullet.
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Matthew Laurence Walker told the court the bullet was simply his way of coping with what had happened to him on August 31, 2010.
Walker told magistrate Tony Murray in Albury Local Court that being able to look at the round was how he was learning to get over the trauma.
The Tangambalanga man, 31, is clearly still struggling with the impact of the shooting, which led to him undergoing several surgeries.
He moved slowly and with some difficulty to a microphone near the bar table.
Mr Murray could see his troubles and invited Walker to sit at the bar table to allow him to highlight matters on the police fact sheet with which he disagreed.
Walker told the court his recovery had been hampered by the fact that “the bloke who shot me” never had to face trial.
An Albury man was committed to stand trial on a charge of discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after a hearing in October, 2012.
The case was listed for trial in the District Court at Wagga, but conflicting evidence led to the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions office no-billing the case – which ended the proceedings.
There were other charges of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm and firing a gun in a public place.
It was suggested during the committal hearing that another man was responsible for the shooting.
Walker, known during that hearing as Matthew Fruend, was shot in the right buttock with a .303 rifle as he stood out the front of a Kurnell Street house.
He pleaded guilty this week to possessing ammunition without a permit or licence.
The court heard that police were doing a patrol of the Glenroy area on December 19 about 5pm when they saw a maroon BMW with Victorian registration.
They motioned to the driver to stop for a random breath test and in so doing, saw passengers “shuffling about” inside.
Walker, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was “nervous, sweating profusely and was defensive and aggressive when spoken to”.
That made police suspect there might be illegal drugs in the car.
They searched Walker’s backpack and found “a large amount of drug paraphernalia”.
It was then they found the live .303 cartridge round, with the primer and bullet intact.
Walker admitted to police he did not have a firearms licence.
Mr Murray said he took into account it was a single round, but told Walker he still should not have had the bullet.
Walker was convicted and fined $200.
