Bikie links to City of Ink tattoo parlour shooting accused: Court
TWO men accused of shooting up a tattoo parlour owned by former Tigers star Jake King and ex-bikie Toby Mitchell have links to the Comanchero, Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard today.
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TWO men who allegedly shot up a tattoo parlour owned by former Tigers star Jake King and former bikie Toby Mitchell have links to the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle club the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard today.
Yahya Aboueid and Mustafa Yuksel, both 25, were seeking bail after being accused of spraying bullets into the City of Ink in South Melbourne before torching their Hyundai getaway car and being picked up by a third man after the July 14 drive-by.
The court heard the pair were arrested after being pulled over for driving without lights.
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Police informant Detective Senior Constable Scott O’Brien of the anti-bikie Echo Taskforce told the court the pair were arrested in Brunswick in a white Ford Falcon driven by a third man which was first spotted driving with no lights by a local divisional van about 500m from where the Hyundai was later found torched.
“It was immediately noticed there was a very strong smell of petrol and a 20 litre jerry can was observed on the rear seat,” Det-Sen Constable O’Brien told the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
He said a key for the Hyundai was also found in the Ford, along with balaclavas and gloves.
The court heard Mr Aboueid had an encrypted Samsung phone loaded with a “machine to machine” SIM card originating from Spain.
Det-Sen Constable O’Brien said it was the type of phone used by organised crime and outlaw bikie gangs to avoid detection, as it could only communicate with other encrypted phones.
Det-Sen Constable O’Brien said a .38 calibre sub-nosed revolver with five expended cartridges was later recovered from the burnt out Hyundai.
The court heard ballistic testing to compare a bullet fired from that gun with a bullet of the same calibre recovered from the scene was yet to be conducted, while DNA testing of the other items could take up to six months due to delays.
Det-Sen Constable O’Brien told he had been advised that a small amount of gunshot residue had been found on the hands of both men.
The court heard Aboueid, of Meadow Heights, has a criminal record and was a former member of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle club, while Mr Yuksel, of Dallas has never been in trouble with the law but was a known associate of a number of Comanchero.
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The allegations against the pair include discharging a firearm at premises, using a firearm in a public place, reckless conduct endangering life, reckless conduct endangering serious injury, using a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence, using an unregistered handgun, theft of motor vehicle, fraudulently using a registration plate and arson.
Mr Yuksel and Aboueid gave no comment interviews after their arrest and were released but were rearrested in raids on their homes earlier this month, along with the third man in the Ford, aged 23, who was later released.
The Prosecution opposed bail claiming the pair posed a risk of reoffending and endangering the welfare of the public, while Aboueid also posed a flight risk.
Defence Barrister Mark Gumbleton said small amounts of gunshot reside could easily be transferred from shaking hands with a shooter or touching an item with residue and argued the evidence could not discount the alternative option that a lone shooter was picked up by two other men.
The Magistrate reserved her decision.