Sydney gunman jailed for 15-plus years

A cash transit guard shot seven times at point-blank range in a brazen midday robbery has watched on in a Sydney court as the gunman was jailed for at least 15 years.

Terrance Oliver was stabbed, brutally beaten and sprayed with bullets in the Berala Hotel carpark and believed he was going to die.

But as triggerman Richard Bargashoun and his accomplice sped away, Mr Oliver says he thought of his family and decided: "No, I'm not going to die - and that's when I stood up and walked back to the door of the hotel."

Parramatta District Court heard on Friday that he has undergone a series of surgeries and is likely to live with the physical consequences of the 2012 shooting for the rest of his life.

On November 12 that year, the retired police sergeant was carrying a backpack stuffed with $108,247 in cash to his unmarked armoured vehicle on behalf of the hotel.

Bargashoun's cut of the stolen cash was later found concealed in his home.

Four months earlier, the 38-year-old had been involved in a four-person jewel heist in Wetherill Park that netted more than $100,000 in loot, most of which has never been recovered.

Bargashoun was already on parole for other offences at the time of the 2012 crimes.

Judge Andrew Colefax described in grisly detail how Bargashoun shot Mr Oliver above the left knee before striking him in the head, then shot him again as he lay on the ground.

His partner laid into Mr Oliver, kicking him over and over again.

"Finally Mr Oliver released the bag," Judge Colefax said.

"At around this time, Mr Bargashoun fired several more shots into Mr Oliver."

In a victim impact statement, Mr Oliver had told how, as he lay bleeding on the ground, he wondered if he would ever see his wife again.

"It was in no doubt the scariest thing I have ever experienced," Mr Oliver wrote.

"No physical injury can compare to that feeling. To this day I cannot believe I am still alive after being shot at point-blank range so many times."

Judge Colefax noted Bargashoun "purported to express remorse" but said he didn't accept this as genuine.

He handed down an aggregate jail term of 20 years for the crimes of robbery in company, shooting with intent to murder, aggravated robbery causing grievous bodily harm and knowingly dealing in proceeds of crime.

Outside court, Mr Oliver - ever the policeman - said he was happy to see another criminal taken off the streets.

He thanked the officers who investigated the case, the paramedics who helped save his life, and the family that pushed him to keep going.

"I remember everything, unfortunately," he said.

"And during the night I still remember things. It'll be ongoing, but we'll get over it.