Jacob Dwyer: Wooroloo gunman accidentally shot wife’s troubled friend in bikie home invasion extortion bid

A man who accidentally shot his wife’s friend in a bizarre incident involving bikies, a home-made shotgun and an extortion attempt on Perth’s outskirts has been jailed for seven years and six months. Heavily-armed police swarmed Wooroloo on the morning of November 4, 2023 and found James Peter Deering on the side of the road with a bullet wound to his head. The 32-year-old was flown to Royal Perth Hospital, where he died the next day, while the shooter, Jacob John Dwyer, was charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty, thinking he’d argue he was defending himself — and his pregnant wife and mother — from a home invasion. But that changed to a guilty plea to manslaughter on what was to be the first day of his Supreme Court of WA trial a fortnight ago. The 37-year-old’s sentencing on Monday was told that Mr Deering had been kidnapped — over a drug debt — by two Comancheros and another man who drove him to the Dwyer’s Needham Road home. Having received a warning text from one his wife’s friends that such a scene might unfold, Dwyer shouted at the men, then retrieved a home-made shotgun. “You asked what any of this had to do with you,” Justice Forrester said. After one of the men — who he’d previously met in jail and knew to be violent — raised a handgun and demanded money, Dwyer fired his rudimentary weapon. Two pellets pierced the car they’d arrived in and struck Mr Deering in the head as he sat in the rear passenger seat. Justice Amanda Forrester said she accepted Dwyer was in a difficult position, faced with “effectively an extortion threat” through no fault of his own. But to fire a home-made gun, not knowing how accurate it was, in front of several people was “the very epitome of gross criminal negligence”, she said. The men had driven off, not realising Mr Deering had been struck until he began gasping and gurgling. Two “selfishly” fled, Justice Forrester said, and while the driver stayed, he appeared to be in shock and left it to passing motorists to help the victim. Mr Deering’s partner wrote in her victim impact statement that she dreaded the day when she would have to explain his death to their two children. Mr Deering’s father tearfully read his statement out in court, speaking of his shock, devastation, grief, and tragically, feelings that he hadn’t done enough to guide and protect his son. “To lose a child is indescribable,” he said. “The domino effect on my family is painful to watch. “Nothing or no-one will allow me to spend time with James again. I will never attend his wedding ... I just miss him constantly. “To just start crying and not see it coming on is the new normal.” Dwyer will be eligible for parole after serving five years and six months. Outside court, defence counsel Mark Trowell said his client was “clearly remorseful” and had “no intention to kill Mr Deering”. “These gangsters had come to his property, to threaten him and to obtain money when his pregnant wife and his mother were in the house alone, so it’s just a terrible set of circumstances,” he said. “I think the judge took that into account.” Mr Trowell told the court Dwyer’s house was “raided” by men wearing balaclavas six weeks after the shooting and his mum was threatened.