TWO men who bashed Scott Papworth outside his Aberglasslyn home before he was unexpectedly shot by a third man have been sentenced to time served in Newcastle District Court.
Mr Papworth was shot in the stomach, the bullet shattering in his abdomen and nearly claiming his life, during a brutal attack outside his home in Golden Whistler Avenue about 9.40pm on March 9 last year.
The Newcastle Herald revealed in April that Mr Papworth had been targeted by three men after he allegedly intimidated a woman over a drug debt.
Jak Farmer, 26, and 35-year-old Dane Simms, the two men who punched and kicked Mr Papworth in the driveway of his home, were on Friday jailed for a maximum of two years and 10 months with non-parole periods that equated to time already served on remand.
Dylan Gee, who detectives allege appeared armed with a black rifle after the initial attack and shot Mr Papworth, has been arrested after police appealed for information and released CCTV images in January.
Mr Gee has been charged with five offences, including discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and remains behind bars. He will next appear in court later this month.
Farmer and Simms had no idea Mr Papworth was going to be shot, but after fleeing in a Magna, which was later found on fire in Telarah, they concealed from police the identity of the shooter.
The pair pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company and concealing a serious indictable offence and on Thursday in Newcastle District Court were sentenced to time served.
For Farmer that was 14 months and Simms served 10 months before they were both granted conditional bail to enter a residential rehabilitation centre.
The confrontation at Aberglasslyn was triggered by a chance meeting and conversation at the Rutherford Hotel earlier that night, when a woman told Farmer she had been intimidated by Mr Papworth over an unpaid drug debt.
After telling the woman he would "sort it out", Farmer drove to Aberglasslyn to confront Mr Papworth.
With him was Simms and a third man who police allege pulled the trigger and shot Mr Papworth. Farmer knocked on Mr Papworth's door and the pair argued and fought before Mr Papworth was shot.
Meanwhile, Mr Papworth was arrested earlier this week and charged over a drug-related kidnapping and assault.
He was refused bail, the magistrate making an order that he receive appropriate medical treatment for his gunshot wound while in jail.
