The Wagga District Court jury for a trial over an alleged plot to attack a Junee man has heard testimony from a taxi driver that the alleged victim was "paranoid" and carried knives with him.
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Junee's Haydn Patrick Smith, 51, Sarah Anne McGrath, 36, and George Stoll, 27, as well as Wagga's Bradley Triffitt, 32, have all pleaded not guilty to one charge each of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Mr Stoll has been accused of striking Timothy Robert Orr with a machete at Junee in the early hours of May 14, 2020, and the other defendants have been accused of aiding the offence in a joint criminal enterprise.
Members of the jury yesterday heard the final evidence from the Crown prosecutor and the solicitors for each of the four defendants.
Haydn Patrick Smith's solicitor John Heazlewood called Junee taxi driver Brendan David Smith as a witness to give evidence.
Mr Smith said he had worked as a night shift driver on the weekends in the town for about six or seven years, taking fares between 5.30pm and 4am or 8.30am.
The driver said he knew the defendant Haydn Smith as he repaired the door of his taxi van regularly but they were not relatives. Mr Heazlewood also asked the driver if he knew Timothy Orr.
Mr Smith said yes and that he had driven Mr Orr as a passenger on multiple occasions, sometimes taking him between his house and his ex-partner Sarah's house two or three times a night or in the early morning.
The driver said he picked up Mr Orr some time in early 2020 and he was "extremely agitated and paranoid about people being after him" and had carried a knife.
He said Mr Orr also at times carried machetes in the taxi and claimed people had fired guns at him.
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Under cross examination from Crown prosecutor Max Pincott, the taxi driver said he had never refused a fare from Mr Orr because he was "never aggressive towards me".
In his closing remarks, Mr Pincott said Mr Orr was "no angel" given his 11-year history of drug addiction and criminal record for domestic violence and carrying a knife.
"Is it paranoid to believe that people are plotting to assault you when they actually are?" Mr Pincott asked the jury.
Ms McGrath's solicitor told the jury they had a "very important" task to weigh up the "honesty, accuracy and the reliability of Mr Orr".
The solicitor said Mr Orr's claim - that he got a "bombardment of messages" via Facebook from Ms McGrath urging him to return to the house where he was attacked - had been proven false.
Mr Heazlewood and Mr Stoll's solicitor, Stuart Bouveng, were due to continue their closing remarks today.
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