Defence lawyer Ashkan Tai reveals fatally shot Liam Scorsese’s last call to him
THE stunned and heartbroken lawyer for an ex-bikie associate shot and killed by police has revealed his final upbeat phone call with the man just hours before he met his end.
Crime and Court
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THE night before Liam Scorsese was fatally shot by police he phoned his lawyer in good spirits, keen to alter parole conditions for a new course he wanted to do.
Next morning the 31-year-old Gold Coaster, who police describe as a bikie associate, was killed when a rookie cop opened fire on him at a dramatic emergency call-out.
Ashkan Tai, the trouble-prone Scorsese’s lawyer, said last night he was heartbroken as were his family.
“He was no saint but they didn’t have to kill him.”
His client — who had come to police attention the past 18 months for the brutal assault of a tourist bus driver, abusing paramedics after a traffic accident and using counterfeit money at the Broadbeach casino — was trying to turn his life around, Mr Tai said.
“I spoke to him last night on the phone, and he also texted me, referring another client. He’d been fantastic — since he got out of prison in November he’d just been training, being positive, working with his father,” he said.
Police say “fearful” occupants of a Brisbane residence, who knew Scorsese, called triple 000 to the Wakerley home at 9.50am yesterday, reporting he was armed with a knife and trying to break in.
When two officers arrived, he was “enraged”, armed and threatened the two cops, police say.
Acting Chief Superintendent Mick Niland, who described the two officers as “quite junior”, said they “activated” a taser.
“I understand after utilising the taser, police retreated away from the offender and the offender has followed with a knife threatening police,” he said.
“Police retreated 50 to 60 metres down the road, police have shot the male, he is deceased. Police were in fear for their lives at the time.”
Police gave CPR to Scorsese before he was rushed to hospital, dying either on the way or on arrival.
Scorsese was still on parole, after release late last year from three months in prison for pleading guilty to the brutal 2016 assault of the bus driver in central Surfers Paradise in broad daylight.
Scorsese and a co-accused hauled the man off his bus after he asked how long they were going to remain illegally parked in a bus zone, a court heard at the time.
Scorsese, who punched the man before dragging him feet first off the bus and bumping his head down the steps, told the court he was “remorseful, indeed ashamed” of his actions during the attack.
An underworld source said his reputation was “not great” after it: “Silly things like that attack on the bus driver, everyone frowned upon. It was ridiculous.
“That’s not in the code, doing something like that to a member of the general public. When the public get involved people aren’t too happy about it at all.”
Mr Tai said his client’s Gold Coast family were heartbroken.
“The family and everyone near are extremely anxious to know what happened. I’m not saying he was Mary Poppins and got shot unfairly, something has happened. But I don’t understand how police with tasers and batons can’t do all that before shooting.”
In an online tribute, Mr Tai in professional dealing he was “a gentleman and always respectful ... a life taken too early”.
Acting Chief Supt. Niland said it was being investigated by the Ethical Standards Command with oversight from the Crime and Corruption Commission.
“It is a traumatic event for the family of the deceased, our officers are also traumatised. We are doing our best to try and support them.”
Time of tragedy
AUGUST 2016: Scorsese pleads guilty to possessing a quantity of testosterone.
5PM, AUGUST 21, 2016: Assault of tourist bus driver in broad daylight in Surfers Paradise, but Scorsese isn’t charged until a week later.
8PM, AUGUST 21, 2016: Scorsese is seriously assaulted himself during a gunshot discharge incident the Aria apartment tower in Broadbeach; police confirm he had his jaw broken, Scorsese refuses to lay a complaint.
AUGUST 29, 2016: Scorsese charged for alleged involvement in the bus driver assault as police hunt for co-accused who is a Commanchero bikie.
SEPTEMBER 2016: Scorsese arrested after being allegedly found with counterfeit money while gambling at the then-Jupiters casino (now The Star). He allegedly tried to pay for drinks with a fake $50 note, pleads ignorance and says “I’ll have to work out where they came from”.
DECEMBER 2016: Scorsese arrested after a traffic accident in Broadbeach Waters where he abuses police, paramedics and has to be restrained on the way to hospital.
AUGUST 2017: Southport Magistrate sentences Scorsese to three months’ prison after pleading guilty to his part in the bus driver attack.
NOVEMBER 2017: Scorsese released on parole.
YESTERDAY, 9.50AM: Two “quite junior” police respond to emergency call-out by occupants of a Brisbane residence, who fear for their lives with Scorsese allegedly armed with a knife and trying to break in. One officer shoots Scorsese twice, he dies on the way or at hospital, Acting Chief Superintendent Mick Niland states.
YESTERDAY AFTERNOON: Scorsese’s lawyer Ashkan Tai post online: “RIP Liam Scorsese ... in all my professional dealings with you, you were a gentleman and always respectful. What an absolute tragedy regardless of the circumstances.
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