A man has pleaded not guilty to shooting the aunt of notorious criminal Bassam Hamzy through the front door of her Auburn home.
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Maha Hamze received eight bullet wounds to her legs when 21 shots were fired from a Glock pistol into the house on March 9 last year.
A four-year-old girl was at home at the time.
On Thursday the Sydney District Court was told the attack stemmed from a dispute over the collection of a $20,000 debt.
The jury heard the accused man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, would plead guilty to storing the pistol, which was used in the shooting, in his Marrickville home the following day.
But his barrister, Julie-Ann Hickleton, said he denied being the shooter or even being at the scene when Mrs Hamze was shot.
He pleaded not guilty to shooting with intent to murder and the alternative charge of discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Ms Hickleton told the jury that in the lead up to the shooting her client had spent more than two years on remand, and during this time he got to know some of the major players in the state's prison system, including Bassam Hamzy.
"Bassam Hamzy is, quite frankly, a notorious character in the NSW criminal milieu," she said.
"You will learn about a world that is completely foreign to you. It may shock you.
"You have to set aside any prejudice that you may have about the world that at least for two years [my client] was a part of."
Crown Prosecutor Lou Lungo said the court would hear conversations recorded on listening devices inside the visitors' area of Lithgow Correctional Centre between the accused and an inmate, Bilal Haouchar.
The accused allegedly told Haouchar he asked Bassam Hamzy to collect a $20,000 debt owed to him.
Bassam subcontracted the job to his cousin, Bilal Hamze, who is Maha Hamze's son.
Once the debt was resolved, Bilal Hamze allegedly demanded a $5000 fee from the accused's mother.
Mr Lungo said that in a conversation recorded the day after the shooting, the accused made admissions to Bilal Haouchar, suggesting that it was because the Hamzys "fuck with my mum". He also allegedly said it was "lucky I didn't do worse".
Ms Hickleton said the "real question" was why her client said what he did to Bilal Haouchar during the second prison visit if he was in fact not the shooter.
The trial before Judge Penelope Hock continues.
