An Illawarra property developer who admitted firing a rifle at a balloon being held by his pregnant wife has walked away from significant punishment.
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Charbel Douna, 35, left Wollongong Local Court grinning on Thursday after Magistrate Claire Girotto handed him a 12-month conditional release order, meaning he must not commit any offences during this period.
Douna had pleaded guilty to firing a gun in a manner likely to injure persons earlier this year.
He shot a .22 Calibre at a large black balloon being held by his pregnant wife during a gender reveal party in 2019.
In a video played to the court, Douna was at his 150 acre Calderwood property when he fired the registered gun. He was standing approximately five metres from his wife.
After a pink substance fell from the balloon, Douna and his wife hugged while he was still holding the gun in one hand.
Voices in the footage were counting down from 10 and indicated there were others gathered at the property, court documents say.
Defence lawyer Peter Lang told the court the reason for showing the video was to dispute there was a disregard for the safety of Douna's wife, as he had pointed the gun in the air and away from her.
Magistrate Girotto said while the seriousness of the offence was at the lower end of the spectrum, there was still an element of danger.
"It's not the worst situation I could think of, but there is a small element of risk," Magistrate Girotto said.
"The risk is that he could have slipped, or tripped by mistake."
Police prosecutor Sergeant Ben Bragger argued Douna deserved a conviction and said that firearms offences carry serious weight.
"It can't be described as trivial," Sergeant Bragger said.
"It's irresponsible use of a firearm. We can't tolerate that your Honour. This is not Texas.
"They should be thinking about what the consequence should be instead of what the gender of their baby might be. What if it hit a kangaroo or koala, do we just not care?"
The arguments turned to the issue as to whether Douna should be convicted based on a matter of general deterrence.
In sentencing, Magistrate Girotto told the court that 14 per cent of people charged with similar types of firearms offences are not convicted, and said she believed Douna fell into this category.
"This case is the sort that would fall into that 14 per cent," she said.
"Looking at it in a bigger picture, I don't think the community would expect he would be convicted."
Magistrate Girotto pointed to the fact Douna had lost his firearms licence due to the charges.
Douna was also charged with gaming offences following the discovery of two illegal poker machines at his home.
Magistrate Girotto accepted Douna did not know owning the machines was illegal, and did not impose a penalty.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.