Kathy Devitt (pictured), who was shot after being caught in the crossfire of a bikie stand-off at a Gold Coast shopping centre in 2012, says she has forgiven the man who opened fire
A Queensland mum who was shot after being caught in the crossfire of a bikie stand-off five years ago says she has forgiven the man who opened fire.
Kathy Devitt was shopping at the Robina Town Centre on the Gold Coast in April 2012 when she was hit in the hip by one of two bullets fired by Mongols member Mark James Graham.
Graham, who was 28-years-old at the time, was aiming for former Bandido bikie rival Jacques Teamo, who was struck in the arm by the second bullet.
He was sentenced in 2014 to 12 years and three months in prison for attempted murder and for unlawfully wounding Ms Devitt, who was 53-years-old at the time.
A fragment of the bullet remains lodged in Ms Devitt’s side.
Ms Devitt told the Gold Coast Bulletin this week her desire to continue playing masters hockey and a heartfelt apology letter from Graham helped her recover and move on from the incident.
‘He wrote me a letter and that was between him and I…[I] think because at the time they don’t think of the consequences when they’re in those kind of situations,’ she said.
Graham (left), who was 28-years-old at the time, was aiming for former Bandido bikie rival Jacques Teamo (right), who was struck in the arm by the second bullet
Ms Devitt was shopping at the Robina Town Centre when she was hit in the hip by one of two bullets fired by Mongols member Mark James Graham (pictured with his arm extended)
‘I believe that he really was sincere in what he said to me. I think psychologically because I know in the end that I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time that the gun wasn’t pointed at my head or anything like that, and because I actually did make a recovery … I had a goal to focus on…it doesn’t deter me.’
Ms Devitt, who teaches aviation classes at North Coast NSW TAFE, said she felt sorry for Graham’s little girl.
During sentencing, Supreme Court Justice Alan Wilson said it was inconceivable that any prior conflict or vendetta between Graham and Teamo could justify Graham’s ‘brazen contempt’ for public safety.
‘What you did there with that weapon shattered the peace of a place in which citizens generally feel safe as they go about their leisurely business,’ Justice Wilson told the heavily-tattooed bikie in the dock.
‘Your conduct exposed a large number of people to a real and present – and also alien and entirely unexpected – danger.’
Justice Wilson said it ‘remained a mystery’ that Teamo was armed with a knife, and Graham with a handgun, to both go on a shopping trip with their families.
‘When you saw each other, neither the presence of family nor of large numbers of innocent bystanders, discouraged you from a confrontation which resulted in Teamo and Ms Kathy Devitt, a person unknown to you, being shot,’ he said The Courier Mail reported.
Mark James Graham (in black top) is seen strolling around Robina Town Centre before the shooting
Graham confronts Jacques Teamo (pictured wearing a white top and wearing a cap) as another innocent bystanders hands Graham a $10 note he dropped
His defence barrister Anthony Kimmins told the sentencing hearing his client wrote a letter to Ms Devitt and arranged to pay her $10,000 compensation, actions that showed ‘genuine remorse’.
Justice Wilson shaved 21 months off the 14-year sentence he originally intended to give Graham, but said that was due to the amount of time the father of one spent in jail awaiting sentence.
Teamo, who had brandished a knife during the confrontation, walked away with only minor injuries to his shoulder.
Justice Wilson said it was only down to good luck that other bystanders weren’t wounded.
Graham’s lawyer had argued at an earlier sentencing hearing that his client had acted in self-defence.
However, Justice Wilson said even if that was true, the jury in Graham’s trial had been entitled to find the tattooist’s reaction was ‘grossly disproportionate’ and ‘abhorrent’.
The men, surrounded by shoppers unaware of the drama about to unfold, exchanged words