‘Stood up for himself’: father shot in home invasion
Fraser Barton |
Confronted by armed home invaders, a father “stood up for himself” and pursued them wielding a shovel before he was fatally shot, a jury has heard.
Larkin Moffatt has pleaded not guilty to murder after being accused of fatally shooting Christopher Anderson in a home invasion at Gailes in Brisbane’s south in July 2021.
Moffatt, his brother Markiss Graham Moffatt-Cleary, Shaun Birt and Aidan Pascoe all went to Mr Anderson’s home to collect drug money that was owed, the Brisbane Supreme Court jury heard on Friday.
Pascoe allegedly fired a shot within the home, with holes in a wall to the right of a doorway shown to the jury.
The four men then fled outside with some belongings from the house with Mr Anderson in pursuit armed with a shovel.
Supporters of Mr Anderson sobbed as CCTV footage of him running after the home invaders was shown in court.
“He did so because Mr Anderson stood up for himself,” crown prosecutor Greg Cummings said in his closing arguments on Friday.
“He did what he was lawfully entitled to do, to pursue these men and try and recover property which was stolen from the house.
“They weren’t running from Mr Anderson. They were running because they had completed their objective.”
Moments after Mr Anderson exited the frame of the CCTV vision shown in court, he was shot in the chest, Mr Cummings said.
Moffatt is accused of firing the shot as Mr Anderson attacked the men with the shovel while they attempted to enter a vehicle.
Moffatt used a different gun to the one Pascoe had been seen with, the jury heard.
Moffatt’s argument that he fired in self-defence did not stack up, Mr Cummings said.
“Mr Moffatt is guilty because he himself had the intention to enter that house and steal, at least, and suppress any violence that might be raised against it,” the prosecutor told the jury.
Defence counsel Victoria Trafford-Walker told the jury Moffatt didn’t have a weapon until he got into the car, saying Mr Anderson had smashed a vehicle window with the shovel.
“He was unstoppable … led by an unstoppable rage,” Ms Trafford-Walker said of Mr Anderson.
Ms Trafford-Walker labelled parts of the prosecution’s case “fanciful, ridiculous and inherently dangerous”.
Justice Lincoln Crowley will sum up the case before the jury retires to consider a verdict.
AAP
