An angry man's hour-long shooting in suburbia without doing much to disguise himself was a "mad act", a medical expert has told a jury.
Bradley Jason Mark White, 42, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Byron Tonks and injuring two other people when he fired more than 200 bullets from his home and front verandah in Wyong on the NSW Central Coast in March 2020.
White was screaming out from his doorstep, wasn't trying to disguise himself and wasn't taking people out quietly "like an assassin" would, forensic psychiatrist Richard Furst said.
"This is a mad act, pure and simple, from his front door," Dr Furst told the Newcastle Supreme Court on Thursday.
One of the numerous bullets fired from White's home across Cutler Drive struck Mr Tonks as he sheltered with family in the front living room of his home.
He lost consciousness and his family performed CPR as Mr White continued to fire his late father's bolt-action rifle and semi-automatic pistol at neighbourhood homes and cars.
White doesn't dispute killing Mr Tonks but claims his actions stemmed from a mental illness.
According to Dr Furst's medical opinion, White undoubtedly knew what he was doing but wasn't aware of the moral wrongness of his actions because he was in a paranoid state.
His mood had been unstable in the weeks before the March 17 shooting, shown by irrationality and paranoia towards his neighbours.
While White reported taking up to one gram of ice on the day of the incident, Dr Furst said it wouldn't have had an effect on him.
His brain was already in an "inflamed" state and only an antipsychotic drug and time could bring him back to normal.
"The (psychotic) process was already underway and going on, regardless of the ice he took," Dr Furst said.
However, another forensic psychiatrist told the jury White appeared capable of controlling himself.
Kerri Eagle said White's actions stemmed from ice intoxication.
He may have appeared psychotic to a lay person but "of course, the nature of psychotic phenomena is often misinterpreted by lay people," Dr Eagle said.
"He's reported taking what, from my experience is, quite a lot (of ice) over that short period of time."
White, who had a disadvantaged childhood, had significant psychological problems, including regulating his emotions from a young age, problems with coping and a tendency to fight to solve issues with other people, she said.
In an interview with police, White stated his motive was his fury at a young neighbour laughing, revving his car and playing loud music in previous days, the Crown said in its opening address.
"He wouldn't fight me like a man - he wouldn't come over," White told police, crown prosecutor Kate Ratcliffe alleged.
Using his late father's bolt-action rifle and semi-automatic pistol, White shot at people, homes and cars for about an hour before eventually agreeing to surrender.
The trial continues.
Australian Associated Press
