Locals caught in crossfire of Hamzy, Alameddine gang war speak out

Thousands of dollars have been spent on security at the Auburn public housing block which is home to Hamzy matriarch Maha Hamze.

Families stuck in the crossfire of Sydney’s deadly gangland wars are sick of the gunbattles that go on day and night and the getaway cars set on fire outside suburban homes.

One southwest Sydney family has taken the extraordinary step of turning their matriarch’s housing commission home into a fortress as 10 men in her family have been slaughtered or jailed.

The humble Auburn public housing block which is home to Maha Hamze, 52 – who is not herself suspected of an wrongdoing – has thousands of dollars worth of high spec security cameras as well as an automatic gate protecting it from gun crime. The Land and Housing Corporation is trying to work out who paid for it all and warned it may have to be torn down.

Matriarch Maha Hamze, whose housing commission block has been turned into a fortress in Auburn.

Multiple cameras surround the housing commission property.

At the same time, gun offences have soared more than double the state average in the Cumberland City Council area. The council covers Auburn, Granville and Guildford.

Prohibited and regulated firearms offences have increased by 4.7 per cent on average each year over the past five years in NSW but in the Cumberland City Council area, they have shot up by an average 11.5 per cent a year in that time, according to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

One local in Auburn Road pointed out the hole in his home from a stray gangland bullet.

“We are hoping to have children and I am scared but what can you do?” he said, requesting his name be withheld.

“The police can’t be here all the time.”

The block, which has been targeted, is now surrounded by at least 16 cameras.

The Land and Housing Corporation is trying to work out who paid for the security.

An electric gate has also been fitted.

Across the other side of Duck Creek which forms the border between Auburn and South Granville, resident Thomas Burden thought things were quietening down after two cars were set alight outside his home – until January 21 when he heard gun shots from the other end of the street.

“The kids keep on saying dad, you are moving but we have been here for 36 years. Where do you go?” Mr Burden said.

He said it was a quiet area when they built their house but the street is close to the stepping stone across the creek. Police told him that was why it was an easy spot for the gunmen to dump their stolen cars and flee across the creek to Auburn instead of having to use the bridge.

Thomas Burden lives in South Guildford and is sick of the burning cars outside his home. Picture: John Grainger

Opposition police spokesman Walt Secord said the government had let the local families down.

“I never thought I would see the day when families were frightened in their own homes; think twice about a picnic in a park or worry about their kids coming home in the dark after footie practice,” Mr Secord said on Wednesday.

“Make no mistake, the community owns the streets of western Sydney; not gang families.”

He called for “tough no-holds-barred gang take-down” action from the government.

“When is Premier Dominic Perrottet going to start listening to families in western Sydney?“ he said.

“I dread the day when we wake up to find another innocent bystander hurt or – heaven forbid – killed by a stray bullet in gang crossfire. I don’t care if they knock each other off, but I sure as hell care if they hurt an innocent law-abiding member of the community.”

He commended The Daily Telegraph for its campaign to highlight gang activity in western Sydney.

“For almost two years, The Daily Telegraph has been demanding action and providing lethal examples of the violence on a weekly basis. There are often multiple acts of gang-related violence in a single week,” he said.

A Land and Housing Corporation spokesman said they did not install or authorise the installation of the CCTV cameras inside and outside Ms Hamze’s public housing block.

“Land and Housing Corporation will work with the Department of Communities and Justice and the tenants to determine whether the pole and cameras need to be removed,” he said.

Cameras hang off a massive pole out the front of the block and there are more cameras at the back, where Ms Hamze lives, and another covering the new security gate. There are five covering the parking area next door.

Ms Hamze was shot eight times in the leg at her townhouse in 2013 and less than a year ago, her home was peppered with bullets again. One of the stray bullets injured a nurse at Auburn Hospital when it destroyed a window there.

She is the aunt of supermax inmate and Brothers For Life founder Bassam Hamzy and mother of Bilal Hamze, 34, who was shot dead last year, and Ibrahem Hamze, 27, who has been extradited from Queensland on a string of offences including solicit or encourage murder and shoot with intent to murder.

State Crime Commander, Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith, said the community can be assured that their safety is the NSW Police Force’s top priority.

“Not only do police across Sydney continue to proactively target crime and criminal behaviour to prevent crime, the Raptor Squad and Strike Force Hawk deliver a highly visible and co-ordinated response to violent acts,” Assistant Commissioner Smith said.

“From first response to tactical operations, we will continue to be relentless in terms of the pressure we put on these criminals, along with their associates and supporters.”

NSW Police Minister Paul O’Toole said gang crime was the first issue he asked to be briefed on when he was appointed in the job.

“That’s because there’s nothing more important to me than people feeling safe in their community – and we won’t tolerate anyone putting that at risk,” he said.

“NSW Police is throwing everything at tackling organised crime, with multiple tactical investigations targeting the importation, supply and manufacture of drugs, as well all of the other criminal activities associated with it, including public acts of violence.

“I will back Police every day of the week in their attempts to tackle violent and organised crime. Every resource is going into this and they won’t rest until they put these individuals away.”