Mahmoud Ahmad: Walid Ahmad’s brother jailed for fatal gunfight
The brother of the slain Sydney underworld figure Walid Ahmad has been jailed for his role in a fatal shootout at a western Sydney industrial estate.
The Express
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It was the wild Western Sydney gunfight which launched a gangland war, with a series of ‘tit-for-tat’ executions unfolding after fatal bullets was lodged in the head of Safwan Charbaji in April 2016.
Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad, 37, the brother of slain Sydney crime figure Walid ‘Wally’ Ahmad, was sentenced to seven years prison for manslaughter for his role in the wild gunbattle in a Condell Park industrial estate.
The Punchbowl man had arrived at brother Walid’s smash repair business where a disagreement over a $100,000 debt with members of the notorious Elmir family led to a ‘push and shove’ before bullets were fired.
The Supreme Court heard Mahmoud Ahmad played “no part in the gunbattle” except to fire a single warning shot into the air, using the gun of associate Abdullah El-Masri who had been shot.
The agreed facts state Fawaz Elmir, an associate of Charbaji, pointed a gun out of a car window at Mahmoud Ahmad at the same time brother Walid Ahmad fired the fatal shots.
In the days after the wild street violence Mahmoud Ahmad fled the country in fear for his life. Weeks later, his brother was gunned down at a Bankstown shopping centre in broad daylight.
In sentencing, Justice Richard Button labelled the public violence as deplorable, with the result “the life of a fellow human being was snuffed out”.
“No doubt, events such as that cause all members of the community to feel unsettled, anxious, afraid,” he said.
“(Some people) may react with despair and terror at the thought that persons other than members of the security forces are unlawfully armed with such weapons, and are prepared to use them.”
Mahmoud Ahmad, originally charged with murder, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter after his Supreme Court trial was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year.
At his sentencing hearing in July, the father-of-four said he regretted the entire episode.
“I want to apologise for what they’ve been through,” Ahmad told a psychologist, in documents tendered to his sentencing hearing on Friday.
“I take responsibility for my actions.”
The court heard the Punchbowl man had a history of violence and firearm offences, but was highly thought of in his community as a charitable, community-minded and a man of faith.
He was sentenced to seven years jail, with a non-parole period of five years and three months, backdated to his dramatic arrest at Sydney airport on March 20, 2017.
He will be eligible for release on parole on June 19, 2022.