A man has been sentenced for his part in a Mt Roskill home invasion that saw a victim shot through the right eye, leaving a bullet lodged in his brain.

Heston Salt, 32, was jailed eight years four months for his part in what Justice Geoffrey Venning called “a targeted home invasion” involving multiple intruders who inflicted serious injuries on three victims.

He was on parole for a previous conviction at the time.

Salt pleaded guilty to three counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in April, a mere three weeks before his High Court trial, removing the need for lengthy court proceedings.

Court documents show the events unfurled after Salt received a text message in the early morning of February 29, 2020 that said, “Who is available URGENT!!!”

Salt caught an Uber from a Hells Angels gang pad and met three associates in Mt Roskill, where they undertook reconnaissance of a property in his Mitsubishi Outlander.

Armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and a .22 long rifle calibre firearm, he and two associates entered the property through a laundry door.

The Eliu family, who had been living at the property for nearly 30 years, were all home except for one woman and her two children.

One intruder, not Salt, entered a bedroom and shot the first victim, Talakai Finau, in the right eye with the .22 firearm.

The bullet lodged in his brain, the largest fragments lying in the left middle ear cavity leaving him with a dead left ear, fractures and lacerations.

The second victim, Letuituia Eliu, heard the first shot and yelled at the intruders in the hallway.

The intruder carrying the .22 then shot Eliu through his right collar bone.

At this point, the third victim Hailame Junior Vea came into the laundry area and was shot in his upper left arm by the intruder carrying the shotgun.

Salt and his associates then ran out of the property and fled in the Mitsubishi outlander.

All the victims survived, but Finau was left permanently blind.

At the sentencing hearing, Crown prosecutor Sam McMullan argued Salt was just as culpable as the shooters even though he did not hold a gun or fire one, because he was involved in the planning and would have known what was going to happen.

Defence lawyer Emma Priest said his addiction to drugs and alcohol was a key factor of his offending. Salt had a deprived childhood where his father was largely absent, she said, and his pre-sentence report showed he needed rehabilitation.

- Qiuyi Tan, Open Justice