High Court refuses Axel Sidaros special leave to appeal against shooting, arson attack convictions

Axel Sidaros, 27, was promoted from Comanchero nominee to patched gang member after joining three unidentified offenders in a late night attack on a deposed bikie boss.

The four intruders crept onto the property of former Canberra Comanchero commander Peter Zdravkovic, who had been booted from the gang, under the cover of darkness in June 2018.

Sidaros and another of the assailants shot into the house as a naked Zdravkovic, who had just emerged from the shower, took up arms and returned fire with a rifle.

A bullet hit Zdravkovic in the left hand during the shootout, blowing off part of one of his fingers.

The two intruders without guns poured petrol around the victim's Calwell yard and lit it as the group fled, engulfing three of Zdravkovic's cars in flames.

Sidaros, the only attacker to have been charged over the incident, confessed his involvement to an undercover police officer in the ACT watch house cells after his arrest.

His comments were, however, ruled legally inadmissible.

He subsequently faced two trials and mounted multiple appeals in the ACT courts, with the end result being convictions on five charges that included arson and intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Sidaros was ultimately sentenced to seven years in jail, with a non-parole period of three years and 11 months.

The bikie, who has always claimed in court that he took no part in the attack, recently launched a last-ditch bid to have his convictions quashed and substituted with verdicts of acquittal.

In an application for special leave to appeal against his convictions in the High Court, his lawyers argued Justice David Mossop had, during Sidaros' second trial, improperly questioned an expert witness and made a finding forbidden by a pre-trial ruling.

In their written response, prosecutors urged the nation's top court to dismiss the application.

Justice Patrick Keane and Justice Jacqueline Gleeson did that this week without needing to hear oral arguments.

"The appeal foreshadowed by this application for special leave to appeal would not turn upon the resolution of any issue of general importance," they said in the High Court on Wednesday.

"The case does not give rise to a concern that the applicant has suffered a miscarriage of justice that needs to be addressed by this court. The application should be refused."

Despite the court dealing Sidaros a blow, he may still be freed from prison soon.

With time already served, his non-parole period will expire in July.

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