Notorious Illawarra criminal and one-time gang leader, Damien Featherstone, will remain locked up in a Canberra jail for at least another three years after losing an appeal over an ice-fuelled crime rampage in which he shot a man in the leg.
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Featherstone, who once called himself the head of the Illawarra chapter of the violent Brothers 4 Life prison gang, was jailed for almost eight years, with a non-parole period of five years and two months, after a jury last year found him guilty of using a weapon in circumstances likely to endanger life and unlawful confinement.
Featherstone had only been out of Goulburn's Supermax jail for a matter of months when he fled to Canberra in February 2018, after police raided his North Wollongong home after learning he was allegedly planning a hit on rival Illawarra bikie Troy Fornaciari.
He had been holed-up in Canberra for less than a month when he became paranoid about being robbed on the evening of February 28 and called on those in the house with him to "tool up" so they could break into a gun shop.
When one of the residents resisted, Featherstone shot him in the thigh at point blank range. Featherstone's uncle, Rodney Bloxsome, then stabbed the man multiple times when he would not "shut up".
Leaving the victim for dead, Featherstone and Bloxsome kidnapped a woman they believed had information about the purported robbery.
They drove her to another house where they tied her with cable ties and interrogated her.
At one stage, the pair left and carjacked three elderly people at gunpoint. They later broke into a Fyshwick military store hoping to steal guns, but they instead found knives.
Featherstone and Bloxsome were arrested later that day.
During a sentencing hearing in August 2019, the court was told Featherstone had a history of drug abuse, serious mental health problems and a lengthy criminal history interrupted by time spent behind bars.
A pre-sentence report author labelled him a high-risk of reoffending in part due to his antisocial attitudes and lack of employment.
Featherstone's legal team appealed his convictions in the ACT Supreme Court, arguing Featherstone and Bloxsome should not have been tried together; some of the verdicts were "unsatisfactory" given the evidence; the witnesses were unreliable and; the jury should have been discharged part-way through in the trial.
However, the court rejected Featherstone's appeal in full and confirmed his sentence.
A warrant for Featherstone's arrest, issued by NSW Police a day before the Canberra offences, remains outstanding.
Featherstone is expected to be extradited from the ACT once he finishes his sentence.
