Nabil Maghnie, dad of Love Machine shooting accused, bailed for drug rehab as police protest
He’s accused of crashing his car at high speed while high on cocaine. Now, the father of a man charged over the fatal Love Machine nightclub shooting has been bailed so he can enter drug rehab.
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The father of a Love Machine nightclub shooting accused has been freed from jail to “get his life back on track”.
Nabil Maghnie — who has survived being shot twice in the head — today will swap his prison cell for a room at a residential drug treatment centre.
Magistrate Kieran Gilligan granted him bail to take part in Habitat’s 90-day drug rehabilitation program near Geelong despite fierce opposition from police.
Mr Gilligan acknowledged the prosecution case against Mr Maghnie but quoted the drug-addicted dad’s health and long delays in the court proceedings, with any trial unlikely until next year, as reasons for giving him the bail opportunity.
He fixed a $400,000 surety for his release and ordered he does not leave the drug centre without a staff member.
Mr Maghnie, from Bundoora, is also forbidden from taking drugs and contacting witnesses, and must surrender his passport.
He was last month locked up and charged after he allegedly got his car airborne when driving over a roundabout at 209kmh and smashing into another vehicle while high on cocaine.
His arrest came a week before his son, Jacob Elliott, was charged with murdering security guard Aaron Khalid Osmani, 37, and patron Richard Arow, 28, in a drive-by shooting at Love Machine nightclub in Prahran about 3.10am on April 14.
Mr Maghnie was ushered into a waiting car by his family as he walked from the court.
He did not answer questions about his release, whether he felt safe back in the community or his son’s arrest over the nightclub shooting.
He also remained silent when asked if he was involved in the shooting, after police earlier named him as a suspect.
Mr Maghnie is charged with reckless conduct endangering life, drug-driving, disqualified driving, attempting to pervert the court of justice, and committing an indictable offence on bail.
He is also charged over the theft of case of wine from a mailroom at a Docklands apartment on March 4.
Police allege he was on two counts of bail for drugs and disqualified driving offences when he was found near the luxury black Range Rover Sport at the Woodstock crash scene about 12.40am on May 25.
The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard body worn cameras by officers at the scene allegedly captured him confessing to driving.
But after spending two days in hospital, he later denied involvement and allegedly convinced a mate to admit being the driver.
But the mate’s details of the crash were so vague, the court heard, and a check of his phone put him some 240km away in Myrtleford at the time.
DNA found on the driver’s side airbag was also allegedly 2.9 billion times more likely to be that of Mr Maghnie’s.
Detective Senior Constable Ciaran Duryea, from the Echo Taskforce, had told Mr Gilligan of his concerns the Habitat centre was not a secure facility.
He said Mr Maghnie had a “reputation as being a hard man” and was at risk of reoffending.
Other risks included interfering in the police investigation and putting the lives of the community in danger with his reckless driving, Det Sen-Constable Duryea said.
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Mr Maghnie’s barrister Philip Dunn had asked Mr Gilligan to give his client the last chance that he needs to be bailed into a residential drug treatment facility to kick his drug problem.
The court heard Mr Maghnie was ready to turn his life around, telling a support worker, “I can’t keep doing this”.
He wants to prove to his family he can be a good husband and father, Mr Dunn said.
Mr Maghnie will have his bail reviewed once the 90-day program is complete.
If he breaches, facility staff have promised to call police.