Ethan William Crook remains in custody after he was denied bail at Bathurst Local Court for the charge of firing a firearm at a dwelling with disregard for safety

Ethan William Crook, 27, of Emmas Lane, Windera, near Orange, appeared before Bathurst Local Court on September 28 by audio-visual link (AVL) to apply for bail ahead of entering pleas for a charge of firing a firearm at a dwelling with disregard for safety.

Crook is alleged to have discharged a .22 calibre semi-automatic Beretta pistol into a house on Westbourne Drive in Llanarth about 1.15am on September 7 this year.

In an attempt to convince the court on Wednesday that bail should be granted - due to the "strictly indictable" charge falling under part three of the Crimes Act - Crook's solicitor Mr Robinson questioned the strength of the prosecution's "circumstantial" case.

"One does not expect a jury could possibly return a verdict of guilt irrespective of circumstantial evidence, that being the Holden Astra, which is a weak connection," Mr Robinson said.

"If this matter proceeds to trial, Mr Crook will be spending a lengthy time in custody."

Police prosecutor Sergeant Ferrier responded to Mr Robinson's claim and said the case is "strong and favourable" for a number of reasons.

"What I say is, the vehicle used in the offending ... the number plates were essentially played around with before the offence occurred," Sgt Ferrier said.

"A vehicle was found with links in the form of Crook's DNA located on a gun inside the car. There is strong and favourable inference that he was the one who used the firearm. There was no other DNA found.

"These factors speak to the strength of the prosecution's case."

In response, Mr Robinson told the court that "it's common for DNA to be transferred onto a surface" without the individual having used the object, and that police documents said "there was a DNA profile found, but it did not say that his [Crook] DNA was the only one".

Magistrate Elizabeth Ellis formed the opinion that "this is a strong case for the prosecution" after she relayed the alleged "facts" to the court.

"The facts are there is high resolution CCTV footage prior to the Holden Astra driving past the house with no bullet holes shown. After it went past, there were bullet holes from a semi-automatic pistol," Magistrate Ellis said.

According to Magistrate Ellis, the car in question was spotted being driven in a "manner that caused concern" some time after the alleged offence took place.

It was later found crashed into a power pole.

Before denying Crook bail, Magistrate Ellis noted the alleged offence took place "a short time" after Crook came off parole.

"Lovely, thank you," Crook said in response to his denied bail application.

Crook, who remains in custody, will return to Bathurst Local Court on November 16 by AVL.

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