Justice has been served to the culprits of a shooting in Meadow Heights which took place over a year ago on November 4, 2013.
Twenty-five-year-old Constantine Likiardopoulos and Shannon Cooke, 22, were equally blamed for shooting Cooke’s cousin in the head, as neither will disclose who supplied the gun and who pulled the trigger.
The victim was said to be sitting in his car outside of his home in the early hours of the morning, with the incident following the death of Cooke’s and the victim’s 17-year-old cousin from a drug overdose – drugs which were said to be supplied by the victim’s family.
According to Judge Gaynor, the two men are lucky that the bullet did not penetrate the victim’s skull, as had it hit a few centimetres away, the two would have been facing charges of manslaughter.
The judge, however, gave recognition to the less than ideal upbringing of the two men, where crime was a commonality and the cause of trauma.
Likiardopoulos’ father and brother, who were also like family to Cooke, were both jailed on charges of murder and manslaughter.
However, despite their past, Judge Gaynor said both men showed positive signs of development, having cared for their ill mothers, in addition to both being engaged and in loving long-term relationships.
Both pleaded guilty to reckless conduct and endangering a person, while Likiardopoulos also confessed to the possession of amphetamines and ecstasy.
Cooke has been sentenced to 422 days imprisonment and Likiardopoulos for 10 months, along with being monitored for two years of their community corrections orders.