Canberra father spared time behind bars after shooting at Rebel
Canberra father Stephen Pattman was spared time behind bars on Friday after shooting at a bikie out the front of his house.
The shooting marked an acrimonious end to Pattman and his son's four year association with the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang.
After the shooting, Pattman, 50, and Christopher, 29, fearing for their safety, were forced into hiding in a caravan in a state forest for a year.
The Pattmans joined the Rebels in 2010, in what the older man said was an effort to "protect" his daughter Chloe, the court heard.
She was 19 at the time and dating Ali Bilal, a bikie who would go on to become the Rebels ACT chapter president.
Pattman sold his boat and bought a motorbike.
He had his son join the club too, later telling the court he had no idea what he was getting into but he knew Christopher had his back.
Pattman ended up president of the Bungendore chapter and his son the sergeant at arms, both roles they said they had been ordered to take.
He said he tried to quit four times, but each time it caused conflict in the family and between his daughter and her partner.
After four years, and his daughter Chloe still with Bilal, Pattman quit the club, with his wife estranged and his daughter no longer talking to him.
On August 29, 2015, months after he said he had quit, two Rebels, including Houssam Haddad, drove to Pattman's house to broker a "peace deal", court documents say.
One went to the front door of the house, where he told Pattman he'd been told he wasn't allowed "to come here, come inside or speak to you."
Pattman went to speak with Haddad, who had stayed in the car.
Standing at the driver's side window, Pattman fought with Haddad telling him to "f--- off" and "get out of the street", the documents suggest.
Haddad told the other man to get in the car.
The man hesitated, and the documents suggest Haddad threatened to "put one in his leg".
Pattman turned to his son Christopher and told him to get the "cannon". The younger man had it hidden in his pants and handed the revolver to his dad.
Pattman said believed the man might be armed and he was acting in self-defence when he shot at the space to the left of Haddad's head, the bullet shattering the rear passenger side window - though the sentencing judge questioned how that was a rational response to the threat.
Pattman heard the bikies wanted revenge over the shooting, and said he and his son escaped to state forest where they lived in a caravan for a year.
He said he contacted police multiple times, telling them about the shooting and fears for his safety.
Pattman denied he was ever friends with club members, though Haddad later told the court he felt "betrayal and broken trust" over the shooting.
In the end, Pattman pleaded guilty to committing an act endangering life, and to charges of possessing an unauthorised weapon and ammunition.
The ACT Supreme Court's Justice Hilary Penfold sentenced him on Friday to three years and 11 months imprisonment, to be served by way of an intensive corrections order.
Among the conditions of the order is that he not associate with anyone he believes to be a member of a bikie gang.
Christopher Pattman pleaded guilty to the unauthorised possession of a firearm, and the court heard he had since moved from Canberra and was employed and living a "pro-social" life.
The judge also sentenced the younger man to 14 months imprisonment, to be suspended on him entering a good behaviour order for the term.