Comanchero bikie Axel Sidaros partially succeeds in appeal over attack on Peter Zdravkovic

Axel Sidaros, 27, appeared in the ACT Court of Appeal by phone from the Alexander Maconochie Centre on Monday morning.

Justice Michael Elkaim, who heard Sidaros' appeal with Justice John Burns and Acting Justice Verity McWilliam, set aside the bikie's conviction for attempted arson with intent to endanger life.

The court dismissed the appeal in respect of five other charges and resentenced Sidaros to seven years in jail, with a non-parole period of three years and 11 months.

This meant two years and nine months were slashed from Sidaros' previous total sentence, with 19 months shaved off the non-parole period.

With time already served, Sidaros will now be eligible to apply for release in July 2022.

The son of McDonald's mogul Hani Sidaros has been behind bars since late August 2018, when he was arrested over a dramatic attack on former ACT Comanchero commander Peter Zdravkovic.

Home CCTV shows Sidaros and three other hooded figures invaded Zdravkovic's property in Calwell on the night in question in June of that year, variously armed with guns and petrol.

Two of the intruders spread the fuel around their target's home while Sidaros and the other engaged in a firefight with Zdravkovic, who emerged nude from the shower and shot at them with a rifle.

Zdravkovic took a bullet to the left hand, blowing off part of one of his fingers.

The attackers eventually fled, lighting the petrol as they left and engulfing three of Zdravkovic's cars in flames.

The incident happened amid an internal Comanchero feud, with Zdravkovic angering his former friends by burning his gang colours after he was booted out.

Sidaros, who was a nominee for gang membership at the time, sided during the dispute with Zdravkovic's successor as Canberra commander.

He was arrested at Melbourne Airport as he prepared to board an international flight, sparking a long-running legal saga.

Upon his return to the ACT, Sidaros admitted to an undercover police officer in the city watch cells that he was involved in the incident.

But prosecutors were not allowed to rely on his comments at trial after a court found police had made a deliberate attempt to "defeat" his rights when obtaining them.

Sidaros, who remains the only person charged over the incident, subsequently denied throughout two trials that he was one of the assailants.

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He first stood trial in 2019, when a jury found him guilty of seven offences including the attempted murder of Zdravkovic.

His convictions were later quashed by the Court of Appeal, with a judge-alone retrial ordered.

Justice David Mossop, who heard that retrial late last year, acquitted Sidaros of the attempted murder charge but found him guilty again of the others.

These included intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm, arson, and attempted arson with intent to endanger life.

Sidaros appealed again, with his latest challenge heard in August.

On Monday, a 2-1 majority of the Court of Appeal upheld it on only the attempted arson with intent to endanger life charge, resulting in the acquittal on this count and the resentencing on the rest.

Justice Elkaim would have cleared Sidaros of all charges, finding there was a problem with the process Justice Mossop took to satisfy himself that the 27-year-old was indeed one of the attackers.

Acting Justice McWilliam, on the other hand, would have dismissed the appeal entirely.

This made Justice Burns the key decision-maker, with his allowance of the appeal on only one count meaning it was partially successful.

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