By Chris Vedelago and Cameron Houston
One of Melbourne’s most violent gangland figures, Gavin “Capable” Preston, has been released from jail after serving a nearly 11-year prison sentence for the shooting death of a drug trafficker.
The return of the notorious standover man to the streets has put law enforcement and the underworld on alert over concerns Preston, who was at one time also suspected of shooting former bikie Toby Mitchell and plotting to kill Mick Gatto, could revisit old feuds from a decade ago.
Gavin Preston pictured arriving at the Supreme Court in August 2015. Credit: Fairfax Photographic
The 50-year-old was released in early April after serving nearly all of an 11-year sentence for “defensive homicide” over the death of drug trafficker Adam Khoury and the wounding of another drug dealer in separate shootings in 2012.
Preston, who earned the nickname “Capable” because he is supposedly “capable of anything”, has a lengthy list of violence, armed robbery and weapons offences dating back to when he was 18. He also has the word “Capable” tattooed on his stomach.
Preston, who became eligible for parole in mid-2021, has been preparing for freedom for more than a year after reaching out to past enemies to claim he has no plans to restart the feuds that have marked his violent career, underworld sources say.
“No one’s buying the story he wants a quiet life. He’s always been mad, and that’s not going to change. There’s been a heap of talk and there’s a few people who’d obviously prefer he was still there inside,” a source who knows Preston told The Age.
Preston is not on parole but was released slightly early, likely after receiving a sentencing discount for serving time during the COVID lockdowns.
The last time Preston was released from prison, in 2007, he attempted to start a new life “like one of the people on the tram” – according to court documents – but fell back in with old criminal associates and began a series of confrontations with real and perceived enemies.
Preston was one of the prime suspects, along with Nabil Maghnie, in the near-fatal shooting of former Bandidos bikie Toby Mitchell outside the Doherty’s Gym in Brunswick in 2011. Neither was charged over the shooting.
In late 2011, Maghnie and Preston were intercepted with a loaded gun by police ahead of an alleged plan to murder Mick Gatto for reasons that remain unclear. The charges over the plot were later dropped.
Maghnie was shot dead during an altercation in the street in January 2020, a crime that remains unsolved.
But it was Preston’s escalating feud with armed robber and standover man Christopher “Badness” Binse that led to his most recent stint in jail.
During his 2015 trial, Preston told the court he went to drug dealer Adam Khoury’s North Melbourne flat in a bid to negotiate a truce between himself and Binse, who he believed was trying to plant a bomb under his car.
Preston was allegedly unarmed, and when a struggle ensued, he claims he shot Khoury in self-defence with the drug trafficker’s own gun.
Preston had been under police surveillance at the time, but the officers were pulled off the watch just half an hour before the shooting.
While awaiting trial, his time in Barwon Prison was marred by another brutal feud with former friend Matthew Johnson, head of the jail gang Prisoners of War.
In 2014, five prisoners armed with knives, metal bars and spikes stabbed Preston more than 20 times. He refused to provide a statement against his assailants. Video of the assault would later be published on YouTube by people purporting to represent Prisoners of War.
Preston’s current circumstances remain unknown.
“Albeit with significant reservation, I accept that there are some prospects for your rehabilitation,” Justice Cameron Macaulay said at Preston’s sentencing in 2015.
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