21st September 2007
AAP (Australia)
A man's parents watched as their son was shot dead over an unpaid gambling debt, an Adelaide court has heard.
George Siahamis, 33, was shot at least six times in the groin, leg and stomach on April 16 this year when two men confronted him on the front lawn of his father's house in the Adelaide suburb of Black Forest.
He died in hospital from organ failure.
Crown prosecutor Emily Telfer on Friday told the Adelaide Magistrates Court Pheap Chea was one of the men who shot at Mr Siahamis because he had failed to pay a debt to a loan business named City Cash.
The court was told Chea, 29, who is yet to plead to a murder charge, drove to the house and confronted Mr Siahamis and his father who were waiting outside.
Chea handed Mr Siahamis a piece of paper that detailed a list of debts he owed before a scuffle broke out between the men.
Ms Telfer said at that point a second man, Andrew Fry, emerged from the car, armed with a pistol and fired shots into the air before shooting Mr Siahamis in the legs.
When he fell, Chea produced a gun and "shot the deceased while he was on the ground", she said.
Ms Telfer said Mr Siahamis's father and mother, who ran from the house upon hearing the initial shots, witnessed the attack.
Days later, Fry was found dead by police in an apparent drug overdose while Chea was discovered in a car with a hose running from the exhaust pipe to the interior, the court was told.
In applying for bail on Friday, lawyer Michael Abbott QC, for Chea, said the case was circumstantial as the gun used had not been found and there was no evidence his client was the shooter.
Mr Abbott said Chea, whose family moved to Australia 20 years ago as refugees from Cambodia, was of good character and had no history of violent behaviour.
He said the death was not a "hit".
"It is not as though he was shot in the head, it wasn't an execution-style alleged murder," Mr Abbott told the court.
But in opposing bail Ms Telfer said mobile phone records tendered to the court revealed that two hours before the incident Chea and Mr Siahamis traded text messages.
The court was told Chea wrote "Hurry Up" to Mr Siahamis before the reply "Yeah, will be there in a minute". Then Chea again: "I'm waiting".
Magistrate William Ackland refused bail on the grounds of the seriousness of the charge and remanded Chea in custody to reappear in court in November.
George Siahamis, 33, was shot at least six times in the groin, leg and stomach on April 16 this year when two men confronted him on the front lawn of his father's house in the Adelaide suburb of Black Forest.
He died in hospital from organ failure.
Crown prosecutor Emily Telfer on Friday told the Adelaide Magistrates Court Pheap Chea was one of the men who shot at Mr Siahamis because he had failed to pay a debt to a loan business named City Cash.
The court was told Chea, 29, who is yet to plead to a murder charge, drove to the house and confronted Mr Siahamis and his father who were waiting outside.
Chea handed Mr Siahamis a piece of paper that detailed a list of debts he owed before a scuffle broke out between the men.
Ms Telfer said at that point a second man, Andrew Fry, emerged from the car, armed with a pistol and fired shots into the air before shooting Mr Siahamis in the legs.
When he fell, Chea produced a gun and "shot the deceased while he was on the ground", she said.
Ms Telfer said Mr Siahamis's father and mother, who ran from the house upon hearing the initial shots, witnessed the attack.
Days later, Fry was found dead by police in an apparent drug overdose while Chea was discovered in a car with a hose running from the exhaust pipe to the interior, the court was told.
In applying for bail on Friday, lawyer Michael Abbott QC, for Chea, said the case was circumstantial as the gun used had not been found and there was no evidence his client was the shooter.
Mr Abbott said Chea, whose family moved to Australia 20 years ago as refugees from Cambodia, was of good character and had no history of violent behaviour.
He said the death was not a "hit".
"It is not as though he was shot in the head, it wasn't an execution-style alleged murder," Mr Abbott told the court.
But in opposing bail Ms Telfer said mobile phone records tendered to the court revealed that two hours before the incident Chea and Mr Siahamis traded text messages.
The court was told Chea wrote "Hurry Up" to Mr Siahamis before the reply "Yeah, will be there in a minute". Then Chea again: "I'm waiting".
Magistrate William Ackland refused bail on the grounds of the seriousness of the charge and remanded Chea in custody to reappear in court in November.
No comments:
Post a Comment