Yusuf Nazlioglu: Mick Hawi murder acquitted on gun possession charge

A bikie acquitted of gunning down Comanchero boss Mick Hawi in 2018 could be back on the streets in just seven days.

A bikie acquitted of gunning down Comanchero boss Mick Hawi outside a Rockdale gym in 2018 could be back on the streets in just seven days when sentenced for an unrelated firearms offence.

Yusuf Nazlioglu was found not guilty by a Supreme Court jury last year of the high profile murder but remained in custody on an unrelated charge of possessing a .22 long rifle calibre North American Arms revolver, in contravention of a firearm prohibition order.

Nazlioglu arrested in 2018 for murder. He was later acquitted. Picture: Gordon McComiskie

At a sentencing hearing on Thursday, the Lone Wolf bikie’s legal team asked for a prison sentence which would allow him to walk free immediately, in light of the two years, 10 months and eight days in custody.

Recordings of covert listening devices were tendered to Sydney District Court which revealed Nazlioglu’s pride in the gun and his awareness of enemies being out to get him.

On August 16, 2018 a recorded conversation with senior Comanchero bikie Tarek Zahed and Ahmad Doudar, convicted for being an accessory to Mick Hawi’s murder after the fact, Nazlioglu bragged about his gun.

“See that? Is that a cracker or what brother?,” the Lone Wolf bikie said, with Zahed responding “look at that gun you got”. Doudar later said “see that gun” with Nazlioglu then saying “cracker or what?” The conversation ends when exiled Comanchero bikie Mark Buddle calls Zahed.

On one occasion, Nazlioglu spoke of how people wanted to “put one in my head”, the court heard.

“Not only is he possessing (the gun), he is showing it off, he is proudly showing it off, ‘is this a cracker or what’,” Judge Tanya Smith said.

The late Mick Hawi with his wife.

In September 2018, Raptor detectives located the revolver wrapped in tissue near Nazlioglu’s basement parking spot at the Macquarie St, Sydney unit block he had been living in. The gun and tissue had traces of Nazlioglu’s DNA.

Nazlioglu’s defence barrister told the court of his client’s life behind bars, where he had been predominantly placed in segregation leading to an increased commitment to his Islamic faith. The court heard Nazlioglu, who has been previously sentenced to a 10-year jail term for a knife crime of “extreme violence”, was praying five times a day and burying his head in religious literature.

A sentence will be handed down next Thursday.