EVIDENCE: Thomas Maynard said he had a knife.
THE shooter held the gun near his belly button and aimed at Joshua and Thomas Maynard before he said, ‘‘Maynard, I’m gunna shoot ya’’, Thomas Maynard said yesterday.
Mr Maynard gave evidence at the trial of Chad Shedden who is accused of murdering Joshua Maynard about midnight on June 29, 2010, in a Raymond Terrace street.
Mr Shedden, 34, has pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter. His barrister, Carolyn Davenport SC, previously told the jury that Mr Shedden was acting in defence of himself and his brother John when he fired the shotgun.
Thomas Maynard, who was a year younger than his brother, said there were about 30 or 40 people waiting for him and his brother when they got out of a Holden Commodore in Links Drive.
He said he was armed with a knife, but his brother was not when, ‘‘old mate [was] telling us he was going to shoot us’’.
‘‘I told Josh, ‘Let’s get back in the car’, then I heard the bang,’’ Mr Maynard said.
His friend, Daniel Wright, who was also in the car, said he heard Thomas Maynard say, ‘‘Go on, be a f---in’ hero, pull the trigger’’, before the shot was fired, but Thomas Maynard denied saying that.
Mr Maynard wept after he finished testifying.
He told Ms Davenport ‘‘Could you just be civil?’’ during cross-examination.
When he was asked about inconsistencies between his police interview in the hours after the shooting and the evidence he gave yesterday, Mr Maynard said he had a better memory now because he was alcohol and drug-affected when he spoke to police as well as being in shock.
‘‘I was freaking out,’’ he said. ‘‘I’d just watched my brother get shot dead.’’
Earlier in the day, Justice Elizabeth Fullerton told Dillon Bell, who was the driver of the Commodore, to ‘‘Sit up straight’’ before he began his evidence and ‘‘Don’t be rude’’ when he became argumentative with Ms Davenport.
Justice Fullerton made Mr Wright take the oath a second time because he did not look at her the first time and she cautioned him about using bad language. She also cautioned Mr Bell and previously spoke to other witnesses.
The trial continues.