Ali Abdo: St Albans man takes gun, ammo to First Court, Preston, court hears

A man went to see his girlfriend’s ex allegedly armed with a gun, then allegedly got into a fight in a Preston street, forcing scared onlookers to intervene.

Abdo allegedly took a sawn-off shotgun with him. (Generic photo)

A man allegedly took a gun with him to visit his girlfriend’s ex, then got into a brawl in the street, during which someone nicked the weapon to stop him using it, a court has heard.

Ali Abdo, 33, fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, facing charges including unlawful assault with a sawn off shotgun and possessing meth.

Abdo had only been granted bail weeks before he allegedly drove to see his partner’s ex at First Court, Preston while armed with a sawn-off shotgun.

He allegedly arrived just before 4pm on December 4 to find his target in the street in his car with his two aunts, and pulled up near the man’s car.

Abdo then allegedly got out of his Holden and pulled the gun from the boot.

The court heard the man was scared and drove his car at Abdo’s, crashing into the back of it.

The mangot out of his car and ran and grabbed Abdo as Abdo was allegedly trying to load ammo into the shotgun.

Abdo allegedly hit the man on the man with the gun, before the man forced Abdo to the ground and punched him in the face.

Abdo allegedly dropped five shotgun shells during the scuffle, which a witness allegedly grabbed, scared Abdo might use them.

Another witness allegedly grabbed the gun off Abdo and hit it behind a fence to stop him using it.

The court heard multiple people phoned 000 during the brawl but Abdo left on foot before police arrived.

Police found the gun, a rifle round, and six shotgun shells at the scene.

Bags of meth, GHB, numerous stolen number plates, six phones and a stolen licence was found in Abdo’s Holden.

He was arrested in Docklands on December 10.

The court heard Abdo had only completed a prison sentence in August 2020 and had been released onto a community corrections order, before he was taken into custody again in October.

He was only bailed 26 days later, just weeks before the alleged incident.

Police told the court the St Albans man was a daily meth user who was associated with “a plethora of criminal entities” in the northern suburbs, and was an unacceptable risk to the public.

Abdo’s lawyer said the incident had not occurred as the police alleged, with Abdo having been left unconscious after being attacked by the man.

The court heard witness statements about the event differed.

The lawyer said it was pretty clear there was “bad blood” between Abdo and the man.

She said Abdo could be supervised by CISP, live with his father, and work with his brother in construction if granted bail, arguing Abdo could spend too long in custody waiting for the charges to resolve.

But Magistrate Jennifer Tregent disagreed, finding there were not compelling reasons for why Abdo should be released, noting he had been given chances by the court before.

Ms Tregent further found Abdo was an unacceptable risk of offending, denying his application for bail.