Melbourne gangland war veteran Bert Wrout survived Lewis Moran hit, dies in hospital

UNDERWORLD figure Bert Wrout, who narrowly survived a point-blank shotgun blast as gangster Lewis Moran was gunned down at the height of Melbourne’s gangland war, has died.

Herbert Wrout was allegedly attacked outside the Union Hotel in Ascot Vale. Bert Wrout.

ONE of the last remaining survivors of Melbourne’s infamous gangland war has died in hospital after a long battle with a debilitating lung disease.

Bert Wrout, who was shot and wounded the night his criminal associate Lewis Moran was gunned down in the Brunswick Club in 2004, passed away yesterday morning.

SPECIAL REPORT: Underworld hit survivor gives final verdict on heavy hitters

Wrout, who moved from his flat in Moonee Ponds to a nursing home out of Melbourne about two months ago, was reliant on oxygen as he battled obstructive cardio-pulmonary disease.

In his last conversation with this journalist about three weeks ago, a near-breathless Wrout said he had recently experienced a couple of medical “scares” and was languishing in hospital.

An associate of the Moran family for nearly 30 years, Wrout formed strong opinions about Melbourne’s gangland identities he came into contact with.

He had nothing good to say about most of them, except Mark Moran who he admired as a loyal and hard man.

He was scathing of Carl Williams, Judy Moran and even his “mate” Lewis.

Many, like Alphonse Gangitano and Jason Moran were “lunatics”, in his opinion.

Money was the root of all evil, he often said.

Born November 11, 1941, Wrout grew up in West Melbourne in a Catholic family.

As a young man he came into contact with SP bookmakers and Painters & Dockers Union crime identities and, later, fell in with the Morans.

He wasn’t always a criminal identity.

He worked several jobs before driving for Lewis Moran and dabbling in drugs and other crime, he told this reporter.

Wrout as a young boy with a family friend. Pic: Supplied

Bert Wrout pictured as an innocent lad. Pic: Supplied

Wrout as a teenager, before he met criminal types. Pic: Supplied

In an interview with the Herald Sun on the tenth anniversary of the Brunswick Club shooting, Wrout recalled the incident that should have killed him eleven years ago.

“I turned around and the first (gunman) barges his way through us, knocks me (out of the way) ... and sticks a shotty in Lewis’s groin,” Wrout recalled.

“Lewis went to water then. Started to f---ing cry … He gave up like a pricked balloon.”

Moran ran for his life but was shot dead.

A second shooter raised his gun and said to Wrout: “Got you old man.”

He shot Wrout through his arm and into his chest.

Bert Wrout recalls a war story during a 2014 interview with the ‘Herald Sun’.

“I thought to meself, ‘Geez, I’m going down here — this is bad ‘cos if I go down he’s gunna pop me in the head’,” Wrout told the Herald Sun.

The gunman fired wild shots and fled.

Wrout was rushed to hospital where he died on the operating table, but was revived.

An irreverent straight-shooting character to the end, Wrout could not pull the same trick again in hospital yesterday.

Relatives and those close to him said despite his criminal history and gruff exterior he was a colourful character with a big heart.