A Melbourne man who callously shot his childhood best mate after a fight believed the victim was a “rat” and should spend more time behind bars, a court has been told.
Paguir Pan gunned down his friend Winis Apet, 20, outside a Springvale cafe 40 minutes after the pair scuffled in March 2019.
Pan was jailed for 24 years and must serve a non-parole period of 16 years, but the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the sentence.
However, before the arguments were aired in the Court of Appeal on Wednesday, lawyers for the director asked justices for the hearing to be held in a closed court without media present.
The surprise move delayed the hearing for more than an hour and Justice Phillip Priest said they were “caught on the hop”.
The request was denied and the hearing resumed, with the prosecutors arguing Pan’s sentence was manifestly inadequate.
Pan, now 22, had a criminal past, was on bail at the time of the crime, had guarded prospects of rehabilitation, entered a plea of guilty at a late stage and was a high risk of reoffending, the court was told.
“The learned sentencing judge must have given undue weight to the issue of youth in arriving at the sentence imposed,” barrister Chris Boyce SC told the court.
The killer, Mr Apet and others went to a Springfield cafe after drinking at a Dandenong house.
Outside the cafe the pair started to punch each other, and Mr Apet told a friend it was a “play fight”.
But Pan, who used ice and Xanax, took his childhood friend’s car and returned to the cafe 40 minutes later armed with a shotgun and covering his face with a hood.
He fired the gun at point blank range, fled the scene and didn’t help his victim.
“Those actions were both cowardly and callous,” the judge said at the sentencing hearing.
Pan also believed his childhood friend and victim was a “dog” and a liar after he helped police with a separate matter.
But Pan’s lawyer argued the sentence was appropriate and took into account the need to avoid a crushing sentence considering Pan was 19 at the time.
It was “far from the case” that he was beyond hope as Pan re-engaged with his faith and had support from his community, priest and family, barrister Dermot Dann QC told the court.
The justices addressed Mr Boyce once more about the attempt to close the court before the end of the appeal.
“The court was put to a deal of inconvenience by what occurred in relation to the application to close the court. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen again,” Justice Priest said.
A decision will be handed down at a later date.
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