Oulds sheds tears over slain friend
FROM time to time, Shane Michael Oulds sheds a tear for the mate he has been convicted of gunning down in cold blood and leaving to die.
He also has a moment of silence for Jye Burns each year on July 8, the date Oulds shot Mr Burns five times in 2010.
But Oulds' words appeared to provide little comfort to the Burns family, who sat in court to watch the man found guilty of murdering their loved one sentenced to life in jail.
A jury found Oulds shot Mr Burns, 24, at close range on Old Caloundra Rd at Landsborough about 10pm on July 8, 2010.
Supreme Court Justice David Boddice sentenced Mr Oulds on Thursday and labelled the brutal murder cold and calculated.
Oulds, 40, took the unusual step of reading out a statement from the dock.
The Rebel bikie gang member apologised to Mr Burns' family for failing their slain relative.
"I want to say to Jye's family I still cry sometimes and I failed as a mate because I left him out there to die and I have to live with that until the day I die," he said.
"If it was me that got shot, Jye would have not left me out there and I am sorry I left you out there."
Oulds topped off his teary statement with a promise to have a "minute of silence every year on July 8".
Oulds has maintained it was not him that pulled the trigger and his legal team confirmed they would lodge an appeal against the conviction on Friday.
Crown prosecutor Ben Power read out a victim impact statement from Mr Burns' sister who remembered her sibling as a larrikin.
"....a person who could talk to anyone and a young man who left a family behind who struggle with his lost," Mr Power recited from the statement.
Mr Burns' sister expressed her grief at knowing her brother never got the chance to marry or have children.
Justice Boddice told Oulds the evidence presented in his trial established the "cold, calculated execution of an unarmed human being who was supposedly your friend".
CCTV footage shown to the jury in the trial showed Oulds' movements after the killing, including disposing of a jacket and a beanie in a public bin and visiting a nightclub.
Justice Boddice said the CCTV evidence showed a person "devoid of any remorse for the loss of life".
He said Oulds' movements after the slaying revealed his chilling ability to think rationally in order to avoid detection.
"Burns was a loving member of a loving family who was taken at a young age in circumstances which would be difficult for any family to come to terms with..." Justice Boddice said.
The court heard Oulds carried out the murder while he was on bail for unrelated drug offences committed on the Gold Coast.
Justice Boddice sentenced Oulds to life in prison for murder and two years jail for two drug possession offences.
Outside court, Mr Burns' mother, Gail Burns, said she was "relieved it was over".
