Fatal airport bikie brawl that brought Mick Hawi to public attention

IRONICALLY Mick Hawi might not have been shot dead today if he was behind bars for a crime that shocked Sydney and fired him into the city’s public consciousness.

Tony Vermeer

less than 2 min read

February 15, 2018 - 5:28PM

NSW

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MICK Hawi would probably be still standing today if he was behind bars for a crime that shocked Sydney and fired him into the city’s public consciousness.

Hawi was today gunned down in the carpark of a Fitness First gym in Rockdale.

March 22, 2009, was a sleepy autumn Sunday everywhere across Sydney except for Kingsford Smith Airport, which exploded into bikie violence.

Former Comanchero president Mick Hawi at the Sapphire Suite Nightclub in Kings Cross.

Shocked passengers watched as two notorious bikie gangs, the Hells Angels and the Comanchero — led by the national president Hawi, — bashed, brawled and stabbed each other in the domestic passenger terminal.

During the melee Hells Angels associate Anthony Zervas was clubbed to death with a 12kg bollard and stabbed with a pair of scissors.

A Forensic investigator working at the scene at Qantas Domestic Terminal of Sydney Airport on March 22, 2009. Anthony Zervas was beaten to death in front of onlooking passengers

CCTV footage at Sydney Airport the day of the fatal brawl.

As Hawi was leaving, witnesses said he yelled: “You’re dead. You’re f**ing dead. Next time we see you, you’re going to have bullet holes through you.”

Arrested and charged with murder the Comanchero president, Hawi was found guilty and sentenced to a maximum of 28 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 21 years.

Hawi is taken into Kogarah Local Court to face charges of murdering Anthony Zervas, soon after his arrest.

Hawi leaves Kings Street Courts after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Anthony Zervas.

But the conviction was set aside by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal in 2014, amid a political and legal controversy over the fact Hawi was then released on bail.

Hawi won’t face murder charge

Bail for bikie boss Hawi unsafe

An outcry forced the state government to tighten the bail laws but not before Hawi was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and given a six-year sentence.

The funeral of Anthony Zervas, the bikie killed in the Sydney Airport brawl.

The former Punchbowl High student was eventually released on parole subject to 22 conditions based on his “satisfactory prison performance” together with his appropriate post-release plans.

►Sydney Airport — The day bikies went too far

One of the conditions was that Hawi did not associate with outlaw motorcycle gang members or visit any bikies-operated premises.

Inside prison Hawi had his reputation, guards and thick walls between him and his enemies. Outside it was riskier.

Today in a Rockdale carpark, it is very possible Hawi’s violent past finally caught up with him.