Accused Love Machine brawler Douglas Mikhaeel charged with Greenvale shooting

A tiff between warring parties at trouble plagued Prahran nightclub Love Machine has led to yet another shootout.

A tiff at Prahran nightclub Love Machine ended with an alleged shooting.

A violent tiff in the VIP section of a notorious Prahran nightclub has ended with a suburban shootout in Melbourne’s northwest, a court has heard.

Accused triggerman Douglas Mikhaeel, 26, was granted bail after a court heard he brawled with rivals inside trouble-plagued venue Love Machine just before 2am on July 11 this year.

The court heard Mikhaeel was “aggressively approached” by Hasan Gunes and others while in the VIP section of the Malvern Rd night spot.

Mikhaeel allegedly assaulted and glassed his rivals after Love Machine security attempted to separate the warring parties.

The court heard CCTV footage from outside the club showed ejected brawlers with blood on their faces.

Police alleged Gunes and associates drove in convoy to a Greenvale home looking for Mikhaeel just before 3am.

The court was told a passenger in Gunes’ white Mercedes Benz blasted seven 9mm rounds at the property including the open garage where Mikhaeel was located.

The court heard Mikhaeel exited the garage and allegedly fired a shot at Gunes'’s Mercedes as it sped off.

Mikhaeel then jumped in his own Mercedes and drove off hunting for the Gunes, the court heard.

Anti-bikie cops located three bullet holes and four 9mm bullet casings at the property and on the street shortly after 330am.

Police, who also seized a CCTV hard-drive which had been destroyed, have yet to locate the firearms or the Mercedes vehicles, the court was told.

Investigators seized CCTV footage from a nearby property which showed the suburban shootout take place.

The court heard police established an unknown male exited a Mercedes and fired three shots at the Greenvale property before getting back into the car and firing a further four shots.

It was also established a male wearing dark clothing exited the Greenvale garage and fired a shot at the Mercedes.

CCTV footage showed Mikhaeel wearing a dark coloured LA puffer jacket and dark pants exit the garage, hop in his Mercedes and drive in the direction of the fleeing Mercedes.

Further footage seized from Love Machine allegedly captured an “aggressive” party threatening to shoot up the venue.

Special Operations Group members arrested Mikhaeel at his home on July 16.

Investigators, who let Mikhaeel sleep after a five-day cocaine and Xanax binge while they searched the home, seized clothing and a mobile phone.

Mikhaeel, who was on bail for alleged drug possession charges, denied being at Love Machine and being involved in the Greenvale shooting.

Echo Taskforce Acting Sergeant Ryan O’Donnell said Mikhaeel was an “unacceptable risk” whose alleged offending was “high harm and high impact”.

“The shooting occurred in a residential street and the potential for stray bullets, injury or death of bystanders or resident was immense,” Acting Sergeant O’Donnell said.

Acting Sergeant O’Donnell said police received intel which makes them believe the Love Machine tiff was sparked by an altercation involving Mikhaeel’s associates and their female friends.

Multiple others had been charged with the Love Machine affray but only Mikhaeel had been charged with shooting offences, the court was told.

Mikhaeel, an unemployed Mickleham mechanic, was granted bail on a $50,000 surety with strict conditions that he only leave his home for counselling sessions.

“The overall offending paints a very disturbing picture,” Magistrate Andrew McKenna said.

“Hardly the sort of thing that would ordinarily lead to a shootout in suburban Melbourne.”

Love Machine was the scene of a drive-by shooting where two people including a bouncer were killed in April 2019.

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