Bradley White sentenced to 42 years in prison for murdering Byron Tonks in a hail of 200 bullets

A man has been jailed for 42 years after using two rifles to fire more than 200 bullets at houses and cars on the NSW Central Coast, murdering a man who was hiding in a house and injuring others.

Bradley Jason Mark White was furious at perceived wrongs he believed his neighbors had done him when he crossed the street and set fire to his 17-year-old neighbor’s ute on the evening of March 17, 2020. He collected more gas and set fire to the car a second time.

White brandished a makeshift javelin before returning to his home and retrieving two rifles, which he used to fire 226 bullets from his front door and porch over the course of an hour.

One of the bullets killed Byron Tonks, 20, who was hit in the chest while standing in a house across the street. He had responded to the home on Cutler Drive in Wyong after one of the residents called him for help.

Police evacuated residents of the home through a back window while the shooting continued, but Tonks was unable to be rescued. His father was shot in the shoulder and a woman in the back.

On Friday, NSW Supreme Court Justice Mark Ierace sentenced White to 42 years in prison with a 30-year non-parole period.

He said White, who ate ice cream that night, was motivated by “retaliation” for perceived wrongdoing and intended to cause harm to his neighbors by making derisive remarks as he pointed bullets at them.

Last year, a jury denied White’s mental health defense and found him guilty of one count of murder, two counts of firing a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and four counts of shooting a firearm at one Apartment with reckless disregard for the safety of each person.