Convicted killer Ali Chaouk receives three month jail term for possessing shiv

A murderer serving a long stint in jail for gunning down a man in his family home has been sentenced for having a shiv in prison.

Ali Chaouk arrives at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne in 2018. On June 6, 2024, he received a three month jail sentence for possessing a homemade shiv in Barwon Prison.

A murderer serving a long stint in jail for gunning down a man in his family home has been sentenced for having a shiv in prison.

Ali Chaouk, 44, pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning to the charge of possessing a makeshift weapon.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Chris Sinfield said Chaouk was found to be in possession of a homemade shiv on December 22 last year at Barwon Prison.

The court heard prison officers removed the shiv from his possession just before 2pm.

Chaouk was jailed in 2019 for the 2009 shooting murder of Mohammed Haddara, a member of a rival family, on a suburban street in Altona North.

Chaouk’s lawyer, Adrian Lewin, said his client still had 12 years remaining on his current sentence before he would be eligible for parole.

Magistrate Ann McGarvie jailed Chaouk for three months, to be served concurrently, and said it was a serious offence to have a homemade weapon.

“The only reason you would have had it was to use it against another human being,” Ms McGarvie said.

“I accept you have a long prison sentence already and that you hadn’t actually used it when it was located.”

Mr Lewin said Chaouk was in a high security section of Barwon Prison and was spending 22 hours a day in his cell in “difficult, onerous conditions”.

Mr Lewin said Chaouk may have been spending long days in his cell to protect himself in custody.

“Since his remand some eight years ago, he has been in high security prisons,” Mr Lewin said.

Mr Haddara was shot five times, including three times in the back, following a dispute over a Mercedes he had borrowed for his sister’s wedding.

Chaouk was sentenced to a maximum of 24 years and the court heard his earliest release date was still 12 years away.

In sentencing Chaouk for the murder, justice Kevin Bell said there was “great animosity” between Chaouk and his victim, with the two families reportedly having a longstanding feud.

Chaouk has spent much of his life in prison, with Justice Bell stating that the murder occurred in the “one year” he wasn’t in prison.

Chaouk maintained his innocence and appealed his conviction, however his appeal was thrown out after a panel of Supreme Court justices found his appeal was “without substance” in 2022.

Originally published as Convicted killer Ali Chaouk receives three month jail term for possessing shiv