Mongols bikie Rocco Curra reveals what he remembers of alleged Finks shooting hit on his life
Mongols bikie Rocco Curra survived a bullet to the brain in an alleged attempted hit on his life by two rival Finks gunmen. He now reveals for the first time what he remembers about the attack.
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A Mongols bikie who survived a bullet to the brain in an alleged attempted hit by two rival Finks gunmen has revealed he has little memory of the attack.
Rocco Curra, 32, claims he “didn’t remember much” of the alleged ambush as he sat waiting in his car believing he was picking up a woman for a date in Bulleen on August 1 last year.
He was shot four times in the head and torso.
Emergency surgery to remove the bullet from his brain saved his life.
He also had to undergo further surgery to reconstruct his skull.
But three other bullets remain lodged in his body.
Mr Curra revealed the long-lasting impacts of his injuries when he was forced to front Melbourne Magistrates Court for compulsory examination over the alleged shooting.
He said he now has to take anti-seizure medication.
Mr Curra’s answers to the circumstances of the shooting were brief, saying he attended the street “at night” and “remembers a small car coming from behind” and “gun fire”.
He recalled rushing to a nearby house for help and then being in hospital.
Asked if he knew a “Sarah Riccardo”, he said he didn’t remember someone of that name.
That was the name of the woman he was meant to be meeting for a date that night.
He had pulled up outside her home and text her to say he was there when he was ambushed.
An earlier court heard Ms Riccardo did not exist and that a fake Instagram account had been set up in that name to lure Mr Curra to his death.
“Sarah Riccardo” had befriended him on the social media site a month earlier.
Mr Curra’s compulsory examination evidence was given in June, but the details emerged in a Supreme Court bail application for one of his alleged attackers, Sione Hokafonu.
In January, Mr Hokafonu, 26, from Clyde North, and Ali Hussein, 24, from Mickleham, were both charged with his attempted murder.
CCTV shows a stolen silver BMW drive in front of Mr Curra’s parked car and two men armed with 9mm handguns climb out and open fire.
Mr Hokafonu was refused bail, with Justice Paul Coghlan stating he was an unacceptable risk of reoffending if released, in particular police’s concerns that he may take part in further retribution attacks with tensions continuing between the rival bikie gangs.
“This is a serious example of a serious offence which might easily have been a murder,” Justice Coghlan said.
“The alleged offending involved a planned and callous shooting in a residential street, demonstrating no regard for the complainant’s life or the safety of the general public.”
Mr Hokafonu and Mr Mr Hussein are listed to face a contested hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court in April.
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