Three men who killed a Queensland father in a suburban shooting where 10 shots were fired in seven seconds have been sentenced, with two walking from court on Thursday.
asserted
two → kill → Thursday
Carlo Piero Stewart, 31, died during a confrontation between two groups of men involving rapid gunfire and baseball bats after a dispute over stolen motorbikes at Ipswich, west of Brisbane in 2021.
Stewart was shot in the thighs and back with a handgun, after he had tried to retrieve stolen unregistered trail bikes that had been sold to Brayden Alan Wilson-Knight.
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that → die → Knight
Wilson-Knight drove with another man, Tye Joshua Bickle, and a teenager, who was 16 at the time, to where Stewart’s group had agreed to exchange the bikes.
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group → drive → bikes
The victim instead went to Wilson-Knight’s home in North Booval with nine other men, where they approached his family disguised in masks and hoods.
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they → go → masks
Wilson-Knight, who returned back to the property, had armed himself with a gun.
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who → return → gun
During the fight between the two groups, Bickle ended up with the gun.
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Bickle → end → gun
Bickle discharged the gun 10 times within seven seconds, the Supreme Court heard.
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Court → discharge → seconds
Stewart was hit by the gunfire, and driven from the scene, while Wilson-Knight, Bickle, and Wilkins were deliberately struck by a small SUV as they left the scene on foot.
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they → hit → foot
The trio were charged with murder, before pleading guilty to manslaughter and two counts each of grievous bodily harm.
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trio → charge → harm
In sentencing the trio on Thursday, Justice Peter Callaghan said, from the outset, the potential for trouble was present, and both groups were aware of that.
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groups → sentence → that
Callaghan said Wilson-Knight had armed himself with a handgun, and he was confronted by a group of 10 men, which would have been a chilling scene given his children were at the property.
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children → say → property
He gave Wilkins, his younger brother, a bat, which may have been for self-defence, but knew he was involving Wilkins in a bad situation, Callaghan said.
uncertain
Callaghan → give → situation
Bickle was said to have no knowledge of the gun, but had been hit in the head with a bat by Stewart, and was suffering a significant injury at the time, the court heard.
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court → say → time
“It seems likely that the weapon was thrown to him in a fast-breaking situation,” Callaghan said.
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Callaghan → seem → situation
“He did not then fire until a matter of seconds later after backing away from the conflict, and after he had been hit in the head with a bat.”
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he → fire → bat
Callaghan said Bickle remained scared and in a state of panic, and was dazed and disoriented when he fired the gun.
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he → say → gun
“His fear was persistent and intense enough for him to propel himself across a river whilst suffering from a fractured skull,” Callaghan said.
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Callaghan → propel → skull
Callaghan said while Wilson-Knight was not the principal offender, his role in introducing the handgun to the situation was a dominant influence.
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role → say → situation
“He was the one who chose to change the course of those events by obtaining the gun.
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who → choose → gun
In doing so, he escalated the potential level of criminality by an order of magnitude,” Callaghan said.
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Callaghan → do → magnitude
The court heard the gun was obtained before he was aware of the threat to his family.
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he → hear → family
“For his own purposes and without telling them that he had a weapon, he recruited Bickle and the much younger Wilkins, thereby breaching the duty he owed as an older brother to Wilkins,” Callaghan said.
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Callaghan → tell → Wilkins
He produced the gun before serious violence had occurred and attempted to fire it.
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violence → produce → it
These actions were the catalysts for the violence which followed, Callaghan found.
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Callaghan → follow → violence
The court heard Stewart, who was described as a “lovable larrikin” by his mother, had many hopes and dreams.
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who → hear → hopes
His sister had wanted him to walk her down the aisle at her wedding.
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him → want → wedding
“Losing Carlo took a piece of me that I will never get back,” she said in her victim statement.
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she → lose → statement
Callaghan said the victim was a much loved son and father, and someone who had been turning his life around.
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who → say → life
“Nothing that happens in these proceedings will change what is for [the victim’s family] an awful reality,” Callaghan said.
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Callaghan → happen → proceedings
Callaghan sentenced Wilson-Knight to nine years’ imprisonment, and given a parole eligibility date of April 2028.
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Callaghan → sentence → April
Bickle was sentenced to a wholly suspended prison term of five years.
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Bickle → sentence → years
Wilkins, who Callaghan said was conscripted and armed by his own brother, was also given a wholly suspended term of five years imprisonment.
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Callaghan → say → imprisonment
Bickle and Wilkins were both granted parole on Thursday.
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Bickle → grant → Thursday
Bickle comforted Wilson-Knight in the dock as the sentence was handed down before a packed courtroom.
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sentence → comfort → courtroom
Stewart’s mother declined to comment to media outside court, explaining the difficulty of losing her son.
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mother → decline → son
The Aporia
