Drill rapper Big Kash’s TikTok workout show ’full recovery’ after shooting, attacker tells court
John ‘Big Kash’ Lavulo’s got a mean right hook even after a bullet ripped through his arm - now one of the men who ambushed him is deploying his TikTok workouts to ask for a lighter sentence.
Police & Courts
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Towering Sydney rapper Big Kash’s mean right hook and bench press sessions are proof he’s made a “full recovery” after being shot through the arm in an attempted hit by rap scene rivals, a court has heard.
Thomas Vandermade aka Masi Rooc was found guilty of shooting with intent to murder after he and others rushed the Mercedes Benz of rival rapper John ‘Big Kash’ Lavulo in his Warwick Farm driveway in August 2020.
One of the assailants shot Lavulo through the arm as he sat in his car next to his partner - the NSW District Court this week heard Vandermade was not the triggerman but was part of the joint criminal enterprise that ended with Lavulo being shot.
Vandermade was also found guilty of not disclosing the identity of another in his vehicle.
Vandermade’s barrister, Avni Djemal, appealed to the judge for a lenient sentence saying there was no evidence Vandermade knew of a gun before one of his co-offenders pulled out the gun and fired the shots at the scene.
He added that Lavulo appeared to have fully recovered.
Mr Djemal played Lavulo’s TikTok videos showing him flexing and boxing in the gym.
Lavulo, in one video, calls out “chest day baby” and, in another, hits a tire with a sledgehammer while his personal trainer shouts encouragement.
The Crown Prosecutor told the court the Sydney drill rapper was “huge” but he was “surprised at how light the weights were” in the videos.
The judge said it would be hard to argue, given the videos, that Big Kash had not bounced back.
“One would not want to be on the receiving end of what you’ve called that right hook,” Judge Mark Buscombe said.
“No,” the Crown agreed.
Mr Djemal told the court Vandermade had a tough and violent childhood and was picked on by his father before spending years in prison as a teenager and into his 20s.
Vandermade went into prison as a drug addicted 19-year-old and did seven years, with multiple violent clashes behind prison walls before he was released “with no support” in 2018, his barrister said.
“It’s almost a wast of a life,” Mr Djemal said, adding his client had seen a psychologist and tried to improve before the shooting.
Judge Buscombe said he was concerned about Vandermade’s diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder and said a mental health report “goes perilously close” but ultimately does not diagnose psychopathy in the young rapper.
“Psychopaths don’t want to change, that’s the big difference, they think they’re okay… (Vandermade) is a long way from that attitude,” Mr Djemal said.
Vandermade will be sentenced in December and remains in custody.
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