NSW Police reveal potential motive for who shot Sydney lawyer Mahmoud Abbas

NSW Police claim they have uncovered key details about who shot Sydney defence lawyer Mahmoud Abbas outside his home last month.

Police claim they have a potential motive for who shot gangland lawyer Mahmoud Abbas last month, believing he was targeted by the same criminals who kidnapped, bashed him and shaved his head in 2019.

The incident three years ago is now a main line of inquiry for police hunting the gunman who targeted Mr Abbas outside his Greenacre home, with police making the connection after seizing the lawyer’s phone.

The Saturday Telegraph last month first revealed how Mr Abbas was abducted, violently bashed and had his head and eyebrows shaved as “a warning” by underworld figures before he was shot.

Police were aware of the incident despite Mr Abbas making no formal report to officers when it happened three years ago.

A picture of a shaved Mr Abbas after the kidnapping made its way around underworld circles at the time.

Sydney lawyer Mahmoud Abbas was allegedly abducted and bashed in 2019. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Christian Gilles

Sydney lawyer Mahmoud Abbas was shot in Greenacre in July. Picture: TNV

Police now say the key to solving who made the attempt on Mr Abbas’ life on July 26 is on the electronic devices he fought to have returned to him this week.

That laptop and phone are now back in the hands of Mr Abbas after he won a legal challenge in the Supreme Court to stop police keeping them over his argument they contained privileged information from his clients.

Abbas is recovering at home after the shooting in July. Picture: TNV

In the limited time detectives analysed them, police say they now believe the two incidents are linked.

“In June 2019 Mr Abbas was abducted by a person or persons unknown to police. During the abduction, Mr Abbas was violently assaulted and his eyebrows and head were shaved as a ‘warning’,” police wrote in documents tendered to court.

“Following the abduction, Mr Abbas refused to provide police with any statement or information to further the investigation into potential suspects or motives for the crime.

“Given the intelligence received so far, police are working under the assumption that the abduction and the shooting are related, due to Mr Abbas’ lack of assistance with both NSWPF investigations and the suspected involvement of similar parties.”

He was shot outside his Greenacre home.

Mr Abbas is expected to make a full recovery from the shooting but had to have three surgeries and his kidney removed after a bullet went through it.

Another bullet narrowly missed his kneecap, leaving him in hospital for weeks.

Mr Abbas is not accused of having any links to criminal activity or wrongdoing but police believe his criminal clients may know why he was shot.

The experienced criminal lawyer was shot in the same week Sydney’s gangland war claimed its 22nd and 23rd victims.

Drug importer Ferenc David Stemler died in a hail of bullets in Canterbury and Ahmad Al-Azzam died after being shot in Greenacre days apart from the attack on Mr Abbas.

A police strike force codenamed Magnus is now investigating the shootings as well as other fatal attacks on Sydney’s streets from earlier this year.

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