The Snitch: From Nike Bikies to the Balenciaga Gangsta

In a sign of the times, it appears the Nike bikie is out and the Balenciaga Gangsta is in, after police arrested a fashion-conscious bloke with a designer doormat on Friday.

You’ve heard of the Nike bikie – the outlaw motorcycle gang member who cares more about his shiny new shoes than he does about Harley Davidsons.

But have police found the Balenciaga Gangsta?

One of six men arrested over an interstate drug trafficking ring.

Commonly spotted around casinos on a Friday and Saturday night, distinguishable features include head-to-toe designer gear — from the Gucci bum bag right down to the $1500 Balenciaga joggers.

Apparently the loyalty to international fashion houses even extends to door mats.

The tactical blokes in Strike Force Raptor turned up at the front door of alleged crime figure Saadedine Abou Chanab’s Clarence St apartment on Friday to find a humble message at the doorstep.

“Leave your Balenciagas at the door” the message on the Bunnings-variety doormat stated.

The doormat Strike Force Raptor officers found at the home of an alleged drug dealer in Sydney’s CBD.

Aside from inspiring an eye roll, it was likely lost on the cops, who are more RM Williams than they are gaudy Gucci slide types.

It didn’t stop there though.

Inside Abou Chanab’s penthouse unit, police found 26 pairs of men’s designer shoes. But if he’s convicted the 27-year-old won’t have much use for them for a while.

He was charged over the alleged supply of more than one kilogram of cocaine and dealing with $400,000 in proceeds of crime.

QUICK-WITTED MAGISTRATE RETIRES

You haven’t lived until you’ve been on the receiving end of a list day serve from Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson.

As news of his impending retirement broke on Friday, Sydney’s legal fraternity paused to reflect on the all-time greatest one-liners from the quick-witted judicial officer.

NSW Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson will retire after 33 years on the bench.

“If Pinocchio was in this room surrounded by all these lawyers, he would have the shortest nose,” one criminal solicitor fondly remembered Mr Henson quipping.

Another favourite, directed at the prosecution, and overheard by ABC reporter Jamie McKinnell, was: “What are they doing across the road there, planning the director’s retirement?”

From Snitch’s experience, unnecessary delays in an already sluggish court system were a particular bugbear for Henson.

And when there was an absence of social distancing in the bustling local courtroom during the pandemic, Mr Henson boomed from the bench: “Did you all parachute in from another planet?”

Henson will retire after 33 years on the bench in August.

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