Snitchies Awards: The best crims, cops and courthouse dramas of 2019
Crims, capers, cops and courthouse confusion gave The Snitch countless yarns to share in 2019. It’s been such a feast of frivolity and folly that we’re proud to present the first annual Snitchies Awards.
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Well, what a year 2019 has been. Crims, capers, cops and courthouse confusion gave The Snitch countless yarns to share with the world. In fact, it’s been such a feast of frivolity and folly that we’re proud to present the first annual Snitchies Awards. Only those most deserving get one of these gongs.
COURT CASE OF THE YEAR
How do you go past the case that took down an Ibrahim and some of the family’s associates? You can’t. That’s why the AFP investigation, known as Operation Veyda, takes the top gong.
It took just one razor-sharp undercover cop to make friends with Michael Ibrahim, and 18 months later a collection of 20 people — including some of Sydney’s top-of-the-tree crime figures — were arrested.
The case qualifies for this year’s award because 2019 was a year with some serious activity with this case.
Last year ended with the news that Michael Ibrahim and Mostafa “Ferry” Dib were pleading guilty to importing tonnes of MDMA to Australia.
It ended with the news that the man at the centre of it all — Ryan Watsford — was also pleading guilty.
In between all that we were given a front-row seat as the police toured the Ibrahims’ homes and listened in as crime figures confessed their secret sexual proclivities for the transgender. Then there was an unforgettable video featuring King of the Cross, John Ibrahim (who was not charged or accused of anything illegal), ripping off Watsford’s eyebrows with a wax strip and then shooting his mate, Mim Salvato, with a pellet-firing machine gun in Thailand.
THE ACE INVESTIGATORS
No one was safe from the police investigation known as Strike Force Wongala. Not crims, not lawyers, not wealthy business figures, not Sydney’s most notorious crime lord Bassam Hamzy.
The strike force began with the murder of a 15-year-old boy and spread its tentacles through the legal fraternity, exposing alleged abuses of client privilege and ending careers.
At the heart of the job was a core group of detectives who went down every rabbit hole and then some.
They included Detective Sergeant Luke Scott, the quick-witted officer-in-charge who colleagues described as “fearless”, and Detective Senior Constables Matthew Fitzgerald, Kieran Glenzendorf and Brendan McKibbons.
“They have never taken no for an answer,” one senior officer said.
“It is a real watershed job because they have pushed the boundaries within the law, around legal privilege and gathering evidence.”
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Solicitors Martin Churchill and Ali Abbas were charged with allegedly running a drug ring and organising false affidavits to cover up the murder, respectively.
Another mystery figure had their identity suppressed and the gossip mill was in overdrive about who was spilling the beans at the NSW Crime Commission.
On top of the lawyers, the Homicide Squad investigation netted the alleged shooter, getaway driver, the accused mastermind, his property developer father, who allegedly bankrolled the cover-up, and a few other alleged accomplices.
If that wasn’t enough, the investigators came across a lucrative drug trafficking syndicate, allegedly headed by notorious criminal Bassam Hamzy, and busted that for good measure.
THE LAST STRAW AWARD
Before the overzealous Senior Constable Andrew Murphy, a.k.a. Raptor 13, was caught in the crosshairs of a Law Enforcement Conduct Commission inquiry this year, he was already a reluctant social media sensation.
His confrontational interactions with motorists and bikie gang associates were regularly filmed and plastered over the internet, sometimes to applause but usually to criticism.
In April, Murphy was benched to administrative duties after he racially abused two Afghan women during a traffic stop (which was captured on the officer’s body worn video).
LECC later found he engaged in serious misconduct, a finding that threw his already delicate career prospects into doubt.
Murphy even inspired a rally — albeit with a lacklustre attendance — calling for his resignation.
THE DUMBEST CROOK
It is one thing to send Australia’s most notorious inmate a jail letter pledging your undying loyalty.
It’s another thing to have his name tattooed across your face.
But to spell it wrong is just about as dumb as it gets.
Arron Mathew Simmons, 29, loves Supermax’s permanent resident Bassam Hamzy so much he got the murderer’s name tattooed across his cheeks. Turns out his spelling is about as good as his life choices though. Simmons, who was convicted in 2018 for gun and drug charges and in strife again this year for having a mobile phone in jail, spelt the crime lord’s last name as Hamze instead of Hamzy.
Last time we checked, those things don’t come off.
THE BEST DRESSED
Was it her gun? Who cares? Did you see her Scanlan and Theodore silk blouse and crepe knit skirt ensemble?
This was how conversations went on the stairs of the Downing Centre court complex when Sarah Budge turned the usual walk of shame past the media into a catwalk strut.
The girlfriend of John Ibrahim was found not guilty of gun possession after police found a Glock pistol in a cupboard of her Double Bay apartment.
But with the trial stretching over two weeks, pundits were left wondering about the depth of Budge’s wardrobe.
They need not have worried.
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She was a walking advertisement for fashion label Scanlan and Theodore’s latest collection, with her $1000 navy crepe suit, pencil skirts and chalk white, silk twist blouse.
Then there was the trademark Camilla and Marc blazer in three different colours, often teamed with a pair of equally luxurious stilettos.
Special mention to Budge’s lawyer Greg Goold, whose pinstripe suit and purple tie combo held up nicely next to his client.
SPELL CHECK AWARD
We’ve all done it. You’re about to unload a zinger on someone only to forget the punchline or stuff up someone’s name.
We find NSW Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Fullerton guilty of the latter when she was attempting to give your columnists a bit of a jab in court recently for our piece about Eddie Obeid playing chess behind bars with ex-magistrate and convicted sex offender Graham Curran.
But Justice Fullerton couldn’t get the spelling of our name right in her reasons that are published online.
We love that The Snitch has had its existence cemented on the public record, but we hope to see the self-styled spelling expert correct the record.
THE WEIRDNESS AWARD
You know you’ve been caught doing something weird if you’ve faked a kidnapping on your missus and the only question people are asking you is “Mate, why did you have a jar of plum jam in your rape kit?”
TV personality Deb Hutton’s squeeze Robert Dulhunty opened the year by avoiding jail for calling the police to her eastern suburbs mansion to report seeing a man wearing pink gloves on a ladder trying to break into the house.
Inside police found a “rape kit” included condoms, rope, pliers, a hammer, zip ties, bleach, one pink glove and, yes, that jar of plum jam.
Turns out it was all a hoax perpetrated by Dulhunty and he pleaded guilty to stalking and making a false report to police.
Dulhunty’s legal team told Waverley Local Court he was mentally unwell.
FAREWELL AWARD
The legal fraternity said goodbye to colourful barrister Charles Waterstreet this year.
After a colourful and often brilliant career, the NSW Bar Association decided not to renew Waterstreet’s practising certificate, meaning he could no longer work as a barrister.
The official reason was he did not qualify as a “fit and proper person” as required by the Bar Association.
As one of the state’s most recognisable barristers with the style of an intellectual court jester, we’ll definitely miss him.
YOU BETTER GET A LAWYER AWARD
Benjamin Batterham chased burglar Ricky Slater out of his house and in the struggle that followed the intruder died.
Batterham, a Newcastle-based chef, was charged with murder.
Luckily his boss at the Newcastle Club knew Sydney silk Winston Terracini SC, who was called in to run the defence.
Batterham was found not guilty in a very high profile verdict.
Got a snitch? Contact Ava.benny-morrison@news.com.au or Brenden.hills@news.com.au
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