The Snitch: Photographer tells story behind picture of Mick Hawi with his guard down
When photographer Richard Dobson snapped this picture of Comancheros boss Mick Hawi in 2006, little did he know how often it would grace the pages of newspapers and websites in years to come. Read the story behind the photo.
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This is the story about how the most iconic photo of bikie boss Mick Hawi came to be taken.
The Snitch has lost count of how many times the pic has featured on the front page or in other stories related to the murdered former boss of the Comanchero bikie gang.
The brilliance of the image is that it shows a rarely seen side of Hawi.
He’s in party mode. He has a smile on his face and is wearing a striking white patterned jacket with an oversized “1%” gold ring.
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With a drink in hand, Hawi is clearly playing it up for the camera.
The image was taken by Sunday Telegraph photographer Richard Dobson in 2006 while working as a socials photographer at the first birthday celebration of Kings Cross nightclub Sapphire Suite.
“I’d been in there for about 10 minutes and I was ushered over to him by a couple of big dudes,” Dobson said.
“He was having a bit of a boogie and I took one look at the one percenter ring and thought
‘OK this is obviously a bad dude of some importance’.”
And then the photo wasn’t thought about for three years, until it was discovered in the archives by an excited picture editor when Hawi was charged over the Sydney Airport brawl in which a man was killed. It ran on the front page the next day and has been used many times since.
“Never under-estimate the socials photographer,” Dobson said.
“That frame is an absolute cracker and it goes to show that even criminals go to these parties and it’s the best time to photograph them because they’ve had a couple of drinks, have their guard down.”
VERDICT FALLOUT
The police are reeling after Yusuf Nazlioglu and Jamal El Jaidi were acquitted of murder in the Mick Hawi case.
Strike Force Amirs investigators are scrutinising how the case was run, including the evidence admitted and omitted.
At times during the trial, tensions ran high and threatened to spill over on the prosecution side.
There has been talk among the cops about going to war with the prosecution via an official complaint.
Time will tell if this is the cops’ post-loss emotions running hot or if cooler heads will prevail after an analysis of how the case was put together and run.
The Snitch has been told there were also moves made by the police that could open them up to criticism.
OLD SCHOOL
It was the recorded interview of every cop’s dream.
An old-school armed robber sits down with detectives 40 years after his spree. And before they have the chance to ask Ross Oliver McCarty about one of the seven bank robberies he is in the frame for, the 71-year-old saves them the trouble.
“I pretty much confess,” the ex-stock trader and occasional crim said. “I remember it was seven (robberies) … or it might have been eight.”
It appeared police hadn’t yet linked McCarty to the 1977 armed robbery of the ANZ Bank in George St in Sydney’s CBD.
Fortunately, McCarty, who will be sentenced in the Sydney District Court this week on four robbery charges, was more than happy to help after the 2019 interview.
He pointed out the bank on Google Maps, signed a newspaper article from the time detailing the offending, and copped an extra charge.
McCarty, who was linked to the stick-ups through a fingerprint hit after NSW Police
re-examined the cold cases, used to target the banks on his lunch breaks.
According to his interview, included in a statement of facts, he’d get a few beers under his belt before slinking into the nearest bank.
He’d slide a note over to the teller, usually along the lines of “this is a hold-up, no funny business, I have a loaded gun”, take the cash and head back to the office.
The then-gambling enthusiast said he’d then dump his bag, often as the hold-up squad was passing him in the other direction.
They just don’t make crims like they used to.
Got a Snitch? Contact ava.benny-morrison@news.com.au or brenden.hills@news.com.au
Originally published as The Snitch: Photographer tells story behind picture of Mick Hawi with his guard down