Court downgrades shooting charge

By EMMA SUN
A SASSAFRAS man who was accused of shooting at his son-in-law is no longer facing attempted murder charges and has been granted bail.
John “Jack” Russell, 73, was released from custody last Friday following his committal hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
Russell has been behind bars since the incident occurred on Friday 21 October last year and will now reside in Glenburn.
The court heard testimony from three Victoria Police witnesses – forensics officer Harold Wrobel, ballistics expert Leading Senior Constable Darren Watson and Lilydale CIU Detective Senior Constable Anthony Thomas, who was the informant.
Mr Wrobel confirmed Russell’s jacket and trousers contained particles that were “highly characteristic of gunshot residue”, which he believed to be from a firearm.
Defence attorney Anthony Lewis addressed the discrepancy between Russell’s son-in-law John Bottrell’s statement to police and LSC Watson’s evidence regarding where the incident happened and how the gun was held.
During the initial committal hearing on Tuesday 19 June, Mr Bottrell claimed he never stepped in Russell’s room and the gun was held at shoulder height.
However after calculating the trajectory of the bullet, LSC Watson estimated the muzzle of the gun would have been about a metre from the ground from inside the bedroom, and about 1.12 metres from outside the bedroom.
“If the person discharged the firearm while inside the bedroom, it would be about waist height on a 175 centimetre man,” LSC Watson said.
“The findings are not consistent with holding the gun at shoulder height.”
After hearing from all parties involved, magistrate Luisa Bazzani proceeded to commit Russell to stand trial on one count of reckless conduct endangering life, to which he pleaded not guilty.
She granted Russell bail, with several conditions including reporting to Lilydale Police Station three days a week, not contacting Mr Bottrell and not visiting his property in Sassafras.
He will appear at the County Court on Monday 24 September.