Simon Bekiri: Adelaide Hindmarsh shooting, arrest at Sydney Airport
There were dramatic scenes at Sydney Airport as police swooped on a man accused of a daylight shooting. He was led away in cuffs and will now be held in coronavirus quarantine before being handed over to officers from the police’s gang crime taskforce.
Central Sydney
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A man has been arrested at Sydney Airport accused of a daylight shooting in South Australia last year.
Strike Force Raptor detectives swooped on Simon Bekiri about 10am on Wednesday as he disembarked a flight from Thailand.
It is alleged Bekiri, 38, shot a man in the leg during an incident at Hindmarsh, in inner city Adelaide, on September 16, 2019.
South Australian police had issued a warrant for his arrest on an aggravated charge of causing serious harm to another.
The alleged victim, aged in his 30s, was rushed to hospital for treatment to a leg wound following the incident on Orsmond St about 11am.
Bekiri’s face was covered by a blue medical mask as he was led from the terminal in handcuffs, wearing a grey Gucci singlet and dark blue shorts.
Having been overseas for six months Australian Border Force officers detained Bekiri at Sydney’s international terminal before he was “mistakenly” released, Central Local Court heard on Wednesday.
He was arrested again soon after at the domestic terminal as he attempted to fly back to Adelaide.
Bekiri will now spend the next 14 days in custody before being handed over to South Australia’s Crime Gang Taskforce and extradited to the southern state on April 8, where he will face another two weeks in lock up as per quarantine guidelines for COVID-19.
The court heard police would allege his DNA was found on a shirt that was ripped off the shooter’s body by the victim.
Defence lawyer Paul Johnson said his client posed no threat to the community and came back to Australia by his own volition.
Even when released by the ABF Bekiri intended to return to his home state, he said.
“He didn’t make his way to the taxi rank,” Mr Johnson said.
Magistrate Robert Williams ordered the former bikie to remain behind bars after reviewing his “violent” criminal history.
He is also charged with possession of a firearm to commit and indictable offence and contravening a firearms prohibition order, having been banned from owning a gun in 2014.
He was arrested on an outstanding arrest warrant following the shooting last September.
Detective Chief Inspector Charmaine Peters said at the time police believed it was a targeted attack, with two men on the run.
A white Toyota Yarris belonging to the alleged victim was found burning in Braund Rd, Prospect about 8pm that night, about 5km from the scene of the shooting.