A GOLD Coast man who shot and killed an armed intruder did nothing wrong and was simply defending "his home, his castle", a court has been told.
Kane Robert Cook, 29, faced court today charged with manslaughter after he shot one of four intruders he said were in his house when he returned home at about 1.40am yesterday.
The fatally wounded man lurched out into the street and bled to death in a gutter 50m away from Cook's home at Gilston.
Mr Cook's lawyer Bill Potts told the Southport Magistrates Court it was staggering that a man who'd simply defended himself against intruders was now facing a criminal charge.
"Under the law a man is allowed to use lethal force against a person who is demonstrably armed with a weapon and prepared to use lethal force against him," Mr Potts told the court.
"Does a man have to be killed or bashed to pieces to justify killing an armed robber in his own home?"
Mr Potts said his client had returned home to find four intruders lying in wait for him inside his house.
Mr Cook struggled with one man, who had a gun and was wearing a balaclava, and managed to grab the weapon and shoot the intruder in the upper leg, Mr Potts told the court.
Police prosecutor Glenn Whittle said the wounded man ran up the street towards a car parked nearby and bled to death before he could reach it.
Inside the car, which was registered to an address at Benowa on the Gold Coast where the dead man had been staying, police found a jewellery box carrying the name of Mr Cook's partner, a black balaclava, a homemade club and amphetamines.
When police later searched the Benowa home they found a hand-drawn "mud map" of Mr Cook's house with his name on it.
Sergeant Whittle confirmed there'd been a struggle inside Mr Cook's house before the shooting, with the dead man shot with a World War II Luger 9mm pistol.
Mr Cook had it in his hand when he went to his neighbour's home and told them: "Call police, call ambos, I shot someone", Sgt Whittle told the court.
He said after putting the gun down Mr Cook was allowed inside to call triple zero and told the operator he'd shot someone and had been robbed.
When police arrived, they found a pool of blood outside the house.
They followed the blood trail up the street and found the man's body in the gutter, Sgt Whittle said.
Police told the court Mr Cook should not be granted bail, but magistrate Catherine Pirie decided to free him, on the condition he report to police once a week.
