John Ibrahim’s ex brother-in-law Marwan Haddad jailed over Sydney drug ring
The former brother-in-law of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim has bid an emotional goodbye to his wife in a Sydney court after being sent to jail.
Police & Courts
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The former brother-in-law of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim bid his new wife an emotional goodbye in a Sydney courtroom when he learnt he would be going to jail but she wouldn’t be.
The pair had both been arrested and charged for dealing cocaine.
Marwan Haddad, 46, and Catherine Le Brocq, 30, both of Ryde, arrived at Downing Centre District Court together on Friday but he left for prison alone after the couple pleaded guilty to multiple offences including supplying prohibited drugs.
The court was told Haddad had recruited his wife and used multiple runners while overseeing the supply of cocaine worth tens of thousands of dollars across Sydney from a property in Ryde before their arrests in 2017.
Judge Dina Yehia, SC, said at one point during the operation Haddad had met an undercover police officer at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair on the city’s harbour and had boasted he had about 600 customers.
“I just do it as a business, none of the drivers touch it, they’re not allowed to, and I treat it as a business. This is my bread and butter to be honest with you — I have about 600 customers,” he said.
The court was told Le Brocq played a significantly lower role in the ring compared to her husband and only sometimes handed packages to drug runners or undercover police.
While the couple was awaiting their sentences last year Haddad’s son Michael, 21, was the victim of a botched $5 million kidnapping plot where he was bashed before being rescued by police in Ryde.
Judge Yehia said the kidnapping had dealt a heavy blow to Haddad and that he had since struggled with his mental health.
“Unsurprisingly, the news caused him a great deal of shock and anxiety,” she said.
“He experienced feeling vulnerable, confused (and) upset … he was informed his son had been released, (he had) bruising and lacerations as a result of the ordeal.”
However, the judge said Haddad was a repeat drug offender who was on bail when he committed the cocaine offences.
She sentenced him to five years jail with a non-parole period of two years and six months.
With time already served on remand following his arrest, he will be eligible for release in February 2022.
Le Brocq, who has two young children with Haddad and had been living in fear of going to jail, was sentenced to a three-year community corrections order.
She embraced Haddad in the courtroom’s dock and became tearful as his sentence was read out.
Judge Yehia told her court officer to call for Corrective Services officers and said she would go off the bench so the couple could say their goodbyes to each other and supporters.
Haddad used to be married to Armani Stelio, the sister of John, Sam, Michael and Fadi Ibrahim.
The Ibrahim brothers don’t have anything to do with the Haddads.
There’s no suggestion anyone within the Ibrahim family has anything to do with Haddad’s offending or his son’s kidnapping.
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