A senior judge says it’s ‘unfortunate’ he bailed a man who, weeks later, fatally shot another man in the eye with a rifle from a moving car.
Serdar Atesok, 30, shot dead Nathan Knight on New Year’s Eve of 2015 in a suburban Melbourne street over an alleged $4,000 debt.
Atesok was originally charged with murder but later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter over the drive-by shooting in Lalor.
‘The accused reached across while still driving the vehicle and fired at the deceased, hitting him in the face,’ prosecutor Kerri Judd QC told the Victorian Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Serdar Atesok (left), 30, shot dead Nathan Knight (right) on New Year’s Eve of 2015 in a suburban Melbourne street over an alleged $4,000 debt
The drive-by shooting was captured clearly on a camera mounted to the home Mr Knight had exited before being killed
The killer fled the scene in the stolen car, and 24-year-old Mr Knight died on his way to hospital.
Atesok was facing several unrelated charges at the time but was bailed about a month before the shooting.
He was released by Justice Lex Lasry, who is now overseeing Atesok’s manslaughter case.
‘I bailed him… and it’s unfortunate that occurred,’ Justice Lasry told the plea hearing.
‘I spoke to him directly. He gave me the impression he had a glimmer of insight into his behaviour but clearly he had none.’
The killer fled the scene in the stolen car, and 24-year-old Mr Knight (pictured) died on his way to hospital
The drive-by shooting was captured clearly on a camera mounted to the home Mr Knight had exited before being killed.
In footage played to the court, Mr Knight is seen chatting with two people on the street, allegedly selling them ‘ice’.
The victim sees the oncoming car and begins to flee but only takes a few steps before collapsing.
Atesok fired a single shot with a 0.22 calibre rifle though the retracted passenger window.
‘The bullet struck the deceased to the left eye, remaining in his skull and brain, causing him to collapse,’ Ms Judd said.
The stolen Mazda station wagon does not slow down throughout the incident.
Atesok (pictured) fired a single shot with a 0.22 calibre rifle though the retracted passenger window
The victim sees the oncoming car and begins to flee but only takes a few steps before collapsing
Ms Judd said it was an ‘extremely serious’ example of manslaughter, describing it as a ‘line ball case’ to accept the guilty plea.
‘This was an extremely audacious and dangerous act,’ she said.
‘It’s a shooting in a public street. It was preconceived. It was in broad daylight.’
But defence lawyer Richard Maidment QC said it was ‘extraordinarily unfortunate’ that the bullet struck and killed Mr Knight.
‘It’s a dreadful tragedy and a very dangerous thing to have done,’ Mr Maidment said.
‘But that same incident could have occurred 100 times and the result could’ve been different on most occasions.’
Justice Lasry will sentence Atesok on September 28.