How Tony Mokbel was ambushed near 21st birthday party at Barwon Prison
Tony Mokbel’s condition has been downgraded from critical to serious. It comes as new details emerge of the brutal prison attack on Mokbel launched as he walked past a birthday party held by a group of Pacific Islander inmates.
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Drug lord Tony Mokbel’s condition has been downgraded from critical to serious.
A spokeswoman from the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where Mokbel has been since Monday’s brutal prison ambush confirmed the update shortly before 12:30pm today.
It comes as more details emerge about the vicious beating, which occurred as Mokbel walked from the Barwon Prison visitor centre past a 21st birthday party held by a group of Pacific Islander inmates.
The drug lord had been offered a move into protection, after a report that he had intervened in a standover racket involving Islanders. But Mokbel refused, and he was allowed to continue his normal routine in a mainstream unit.
The Herald Sun can reveal Mokbel was set upon by prisoners who had been celebrating the 21st with pavlova and fizzy drinks.
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The “birthday boy” was one of those who allegedly attacked Mokbel at about 3.45pm on Monday as he was returning to his cell after seeing a visitor.
His attackers kicked and stomped on his head before stabbing him with shivs. One of the crude knives was allegedly hidden in a zucchini.
Some of the attackers are said to have stood over the 53-year-old and mocked him as he lay bleeding on the ground. Mokbel was left with a bleed on his brain, the blows to his head causing more damage than the stab wounds.
Armed crime squad detectives on Tuesday afternoon charged two men, both 21, with attempted murder, intentionally causing serious injury and causing serious injury intentionally in circumstances of gross violence.
Another inmate who was injured in the attack, Steven Logan, 31, was taken to Geelong Hospital in a stable condition on Monday.
He was back at the jail on Tuesday night.
The two men charged will appear at Geelong Magistrates’ Court on Friday for a filing hearing.
Officials carried out a security assessment of Mokbel’s situation after the Sunday Herald Sun published a story at the weekend which said the former crime boss had disrupted an extortion scheme run by Pacfic Island inmates.
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But Mokbel is understood to have shrugged off concerns about his safety, with prison bosses deciding not to move him away from the general inmate population.
Barwon Prison remained in lockdown yesterday following the brutal ambush of Mokbel in the mainstream Diosma unit.
Authorities are working to discover if the two attackers had carried out the assault on somebody else’s orders.
Mokbel is highly regarded by many prisoners and has longstanding friendships with many powerful Melbourne crime figures.
He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2012 for serious drug crimes.
One underworld source said it was hard to see such an attack going unanswered.
“I reckon there’ll be retribution,” the source said.
Corrections Victoria Commissioner Emma Cassar said the attack was captured on CCTV.
“We are still piecing things together,” Dr Cassar told 3AW.
“We had really good CCTV coverage of it. I saw the footage that has been handed to Victoria Police, which should assist with the rigour and promptness of their investigation.
“He was approached by two prisoners who assaulted him, knocked him to the ground and you can see from the footage very clearly a number of stabbing actions.”
Dr Cassar confirmed the CCTV footage had clearly identified two attackers.
“They (the attackers) were separated within moments,” she said.
“What we will be doing will be looking at who else is involved. Both had homemade weapons, and I can say we have found three homemade weapons.
“Prisoners will go to great lengths to look at what they can use for weapons.
“We have seen tree sticks, toothbrushes, hair combs and pens, and that was the type of implement that was used.”
The weapons were found close to Mokbel and have been seized by Victoria Police.
Dr Cassar defended the decision not to isolate Mokbel from other prisoners on Sunday.
“His (Mokbel’s) security requirements didn’t require high security,” Dr Cassar said.
“He was a high-security prisoner in the early phases. We are a system that tries to progress people through.
“Tony Mokbel has been housed safely in the mainstream compound at Barwon for a number of years without issue.
“The staff have done a terrific job. The response was first class. We will remain in lockdown until we understand who is connected in all this, and if there are any reprisal attacks likely to occur.”
The prison is looking at members of both Mokbel’s group and the Pacific Islander group and may move some inmates to try to avoid reprisal attacks.
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