Deadline: Mystery surrounds properous-looking man outside Florentino sporting fresh shiner

Mystery surrounds the identity of a prosperous-looking man of Mediterranean appearance sporting a fresh shiner outside Florentino, before vanishing in a bright blue Bentley.

Mark Buttler and Andrew Rule bring readers the latest scallywag scuttlebut.

Mark Buttler and Andrew Rule with the latest scallywag scuttlebutt.

Man of mystery

Deadline informers are everywhere. One deep throat, disguised as a distinguished academic and man of letters, was loitering anonymously outside Grossi Florentino early last week when he noticed an intriguing meeting.

The Professor, as some call him, saw a prosperous looking man of Mediterranean appearance in a black dress coat and striped dress trousers that clashed a little with an unusual accessory — “a humongous red and purple lump by his left eye and spreading.”

The impression was of someone who had hit turbulence while attending a formal social event — such as a wedding, possibly.

Or perhaps he just likes dressing up after getting into fights.

It seems the injury had been recently sustained, possibly overnight or early that morning, in circumstances that left the black-eyed bruiser with pressing legal concerns.

The man in the suit was talking animatedly to two younger bearded men about “best barristers” and “DNA”.

At the end of the conversation, he stepped into an iridescent blue Bentley and cruised off, possibly to change into something more comfortable.

This was on Tuesday morning, when certain citizens were in a state of some agitation over the shooting of Gavin Preston 72 hours earlier.

Readers might like to email discreet suggestions about the identity of the man in the dress suit or the circumstances of his injury to [e-mail]

Solicitor Pat Lennon had some choice words for a Herald Sun photographer. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

A blue Lennon composition

Slightly shop-soiled solicitor Pat Lennon has not had much to say on the record after a torrid few years in the public eye.

But he spared a few words for Herald Sun photographer Jake Nowakowski outside Melbourne Magistrates’ Court the other day.

“F--k off, ya c--t, I’ll stick that f--king camera up your f--king arse,” he exclusively told the imperturbable lensman.

Lennon was appearing over meth seized from a car in which he was allegedly sitting with an alleged woman outside the Como apartments.

A court will decide his guilt or otherwise but we can safely convict him of bad manners, possible gangster delusions and a vocabulary as stunted as he is himself.

As for our man Jake, he’s a veteran of violent demonstrations, bushfires, and taking pictures of actual genuinely dangerous characters. So some nervous trash talk from a puffed-up pretender like little Pattie was water off a duck’s back.

It’s also a guarantee that Nowakowski or his colleagues will be back when the angry ant gets his big day in the dock.

The shooting of gangland tough-guy Gavin Preston in Sweet Lulu’s cafe was front of mind for one radio caller from Keilor.

Hard life of tattoed fugitives

Before he was shot dead in a stand-off with police, Stanley Turvey was the latest fugitive who must have been wishing he’d never seen the inside of a tattoo parlour.

Turvey went on the run after threatening police with a gun at Katandra West and leading cops on a pursuit in which two of them were injured when their car crashed.

But his attempt to go underground must have been made challenging by one rather distinguishing feature, a dirty big tattoo of a hand grenade on the left side of his face.

It was no massive surprise that, when police tried to arrest Turvey on Monday, he yelled that he did not want to go back to prison.

Turvey joins Jaimes Sutton on the list of runaways who made life hard for themselves with excessive ink.

Stanley Turvey must have been wishing he’d never seen the inside of a tattoo parlour.

Sutton went on the lam last year but his highly colourised face — including the word “Beast” tattooed across his forehead — may have been a factor in him not staying on the wanted list too long.

If it was any consolation, his art was so distinctive he became an international online sensation.

In 2019, Ethan Bramble taunted the cops as they chased him over some assault matters.

Bramble, who billed himself as the world’s most modified youth, had a face full of markings and, reportedly, a forked tongue.

In contrast, another Victorian fugitive, Allan Williams, had gone with the understated but timeless teardrop.

Williams is currently being sought by police and traffic and theft matters by police east of Melbourne.

It’s a long way from the extravagant work of notable former Finks bikie gang national president Brent Reker.

Reker had more ink than the Herald Sun printing press by the time he died in prison in 2019.

Crazyburn

Plenty of action north of the CBD recently, with contract killers and other trigger-happy punks getting on the tools.

After a house was shot up at Craigieburn last week, one local did her best to pump up property prices in her home suburb. Not.

“It was pretty scary because you can kind of identify the difference between gunshots and other sounds,” she started…

“You hear it pretty often around here — it is Craigieburn, after all!”

Then someone from Keilor called radio SEN to talk a bit of footy but it’s clear the shooting of gangland tough-guy Gavin Preston in Sweet Lulu’s cafe was still front of mind.

“Gidday, nice day. ‘Sun’s out guns out’ — although that’s got a different meaning out here in Keilor,” the caller said.

Richard Pusey has been referred to Australia’s most-despised man. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

How dare they!

Word reaches us that Richard Pusey has sent off angry legal correspondence after being referred as Australia’s most despised man.

The Porsche-driving prat (whose speeding offences led to the deadly truck collision on the Eastern Freeway in 2020) is claiming his reputation has been seriously damaged.

That is an interesting claim, not least because his reputation wasn’t exactly smelling of roses. But we will make no judgements on that because it’s a matter for the legal system.

It is a matter of record, of course, that Pusey taunted and filmed four police as they lay dying by the Eastern Freeway after a truck hit them. The police were all involved in pulling over Pusey for extreme speeding offences.

It is also a matter of record that County Court Judge Trevor Wraight previously referred to Pusey as “probably the most hated man in Australia,” so you’d think the media might have something to work with.

Then again, it’s possible there are rivals for the number one spot.

Former Qantas boss Alan Joyce appears to have made a serious bid in recent times and Collingwood backman Brayden Maynard would have been a chance if polling was carried out two weeks ago.

There are no official ICC-style rankings for this and the best we could do was a 2015 poll which came up with Rolf Harris as the nation’s most hated person but he’s dead so is ineligible.

Also up there were a swag of politicians, since voted from office, and Sydney shock jock and world-class goose Kyle Sandilands.

What the duck!

Strange goings-on out Croydon way where a ducknapper remains at large.

Posters have gone up - complete with an image of the alleged culprit - after the bird was stolen from Lincoln Rd last week.