NewsBite

Deadline: The best, but mostly worst, of Deadline for 2024

As Chopper Read once said, even Beethoven had his critics — so Deadline doesn’t take it personally that there’s been a Melbourne Cup field of characters ready to criticise our work in 2024.

The Deadline feedback form has had some constructive criticism onit this year.
The Deadline feedback form has had some constructive criticism onit this year.

Mark Buttler and Andrew Rule sign off for 2024 with their year-ending round up of scallywag scuttlebutt.

Even Beethoven had his critics

Deadline’s quality offerings on the world of Melbourne crime and other topics have missed out on a Walkley for another year.

And we’re transparent enough to concede there were critics in 2024 who might argue any such glory would have been undeserved.

One gangland identity offered some free chiropractic neck treatment, though there’s no indication of him having any formal qualifications in this area.

He was left unimpressed by a piece which we’d rake over again, if only we had the courage.

Burger-flipping pro-Palestine campaigner Hash Tayeh hit Instagram to whack our report over a boxing challenge issued to his Israel advocate foe Avi Yemini.

To square the ledger, Yemini was also dirty on Deadline when the column spelled his name wrong. Fair enough, too!

One angry mother took to the socials after we reported scuttlebutt about her son which, the item said, was “doing the rounds of Melbourne”.

“The only thing doing the rounds of Melbourne is your mum,” she responded.

That claim was later rejected outright by the women concerned.

Burger-flipping activist Hash Tayeh was one of the Melbourne Cup field of critics to take aim at Deadline in 2024. Picture: Wayne Taylor
Burger-flipping activist Hash Tayeh was one of the Melbourne Cup field of critics to take aim at Deadline in 2024. Picture: Wayne Taylor
Avi Yemini perhaps had the most legitimate reason to take issue with Deadline. Picture: Jason Edwards
Avi Yemini perhaps had the most legitimate reason to take issue with Deadline. Picture: Jason Edwards

One former racing identity excelled himself with some feedback which – even by that industry’s low standards – was a bit much.

Another fellow branded us “Freemason kiddie-fiddlers” and a regular reader put out the feelers on how we found out about his business activities.

A hot-headed pressman fired off a text warning “snitches get stitches” after industry counterparts leaked an item about him. Who could truly guarantee he was joking?

The journo joined a diverse group of unhappy readers from previous years, including the crew from the Melbourne Club, a Hells Angel we’ll describe as respected and an Attorney-General who turns ironman on the weekends.

Anyway, amongst all this year’s disgruntlement, there was plenty of other gangland goss and guff which got through without hostility.

In the spirit of giving, here’s a month-by-month selection of it.

JANUARY

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY DRUGS

Matthew “Chicken Man” Jones is the KFC franchisee accused of frying brains as well as poultry.

Mr Jones, who until last month ran a number of the fast food chain’s outlets in Gippsland, was recently charged with high-level drug trafficking after the VIPER Taskforce uncovered allegations that he was slinging cocaine using the handle “Chicken Man” on encrypted apps.

Innocent until proven guilty we say, but there are indications someone didn’t have their eye on the ball, at the expense of those just wanting a square meal of the Colonel’s finest.

TripAdvisor reviews for one of his restaurants are mixed at best with patches of kudos but other hungry critics levelling a vast array of grievances in recent years.

They ranged from overcooked chook to soggy food and bungled orders.

Others giving the bird online spoke of a rude manager and a “big box with nothing in it”.

Did somebody say prison food?

Such negative feedback would certainly not have met with the approval of the original “Chicken Man”, Gus Fring from the hit TV show Breaking Bad.

Gus was a ruthless master criminal but never lost sight of the importance of giving customers the very best at his Los Pollos Hermanos outlets.

Police arrest “Chicken Man” outside his home. Picture: Victoria Police
Police arrest “Chicken Man” outside his home. Picture: Victoria Police

FEBRUARY

WHAT THE COPPER SAW

The annual crop of Christmas party scandals have come and gone for another summer.

Most transgressions end with the hugely remorseful villain of the piece falling on his sword a step ahead of the HR firing squad.

Only truly outrageous examples of misbehaviour end in a formal sacking rather than jump-before-you’re-pushed. Which was how it was supposed to go for an amorous former cop who in one short evening managed to wreck his sweet gig as head of security for a revered local organisation.

The story goes that the former trained killer got rather too free with wandering hands at his employer’s otherwise classy Christmas party. Another case of “when the drink is in, the brains are out” syndrome.

By February, the annual work Christmas party scandals had come and gone, with one particularly interesting example.
By February, the annual work Christmas party scandals had come and gone, with one particularly interesting example.

Complaints followed, witnesses were found. At the inevitable corporate showdown, the unhappy security man’s two superiors (one of them very well-known) were all set to sack him outright. After all, the evidence was so damning and bosses like a chance to show off their credentials as fierce punishers of bad behaviour.

But a strange thing happened. The ex-cop showed why he had originally been such a good choice as a security head: he didn’t flinch and stood his ground — insisting he be allowed to resign quietly to spend more time with his family, or perhaps to pursue new business opportunities or old hobbies, all without any public whiff of disgrace.

“No!” barked his boss, puritanical chief executive of the outfit, who was backed up by the well-known senior board member riding shotgun at the meeting.

“In that case,” said the ex-cop with deadly calm, “You’d better take a look at this.” (Or words to that effect.)

He then produced a laptop computer — and played some footage taken at a charity event some two years earlier.

The film was not especially high quality but its subject was apparently quite clear to the naked eye. It featured the very same puritanical chief executive, by this time staring at the screen with his mouth open and a horrified look.

Why? Because he’d been filmed in an extremely compromising position with a female who might also have been a participating CEO, or was perhaps just a passing friend who took pity on him on a cold night.

Either way, it was enough to persuade the bosses that the ex-cop should, indeed, be allowed to resign quietly for any reason he cared to fabricate.

This should be a reminder to all who hire ex-police that the latter are a step ahead in the dark arts of compromising those around them — and will usually find a way to get enough dirt on all concerned to ensure a policy of mutually-guaranteed destruction in the event of a showdown.

Just how often such underhand tactics have been used as leverage on judges, lawyers, politicians and senior police is a matter for speculation.

DANDENONG RATED OUR TOUGHEST HOOD

Spanian is an Australian rapper and YouTube phenomenon with 528,000 subscribers.

The Sydneysider’s website says he spent 12 years in prisons and boys’ homes before going straight and building his enormous following with a range of videos examining the tougher side of life.

Spanian’s latest project is a series of videos called “Into the Hood” in which he “travels the world walking through some of its most dangerous and notorious neighbourhoods to see how life really is for people in these places.”

Among those already profiled are Blokovi in Serbia and Sweden’s Rosengard, said to be Europe’s gun crime capital.

The unkind might suggest it was a natural progression when Spanian recently visited Melbourne and headed straight to Dandenong as part of the series.

As he moves through Melbourne’s CBD trying to navigate the Myki system, Spanian asserts that Dandy has more citizens in the prison system than any other part of our city.

Furthermore, it is a meeting point for a “lot of dramas, a lot of fights.”

Deadline had barely heard of Spanian but it was clear once he got off the Cranbourne line train that plenty in Dandenong are lovers of his work.

He was followed throughout the episode by a band of merry men and women fortunate to be able to spare the time for the experience.

A man in a yellow cap led a guided tour of some of the hardest parts of the suburb.

A little boy who looked still of primary school age tells Spanian about the time he was stabbed with a syringe by a “junkie”

There is a visit to some kind of house where prison inmates stay after being released.

At one stage, a woman pulls over and asks Spanian to pose with a bottle of Fijian liquor.

All the while, locals drive past the group shouting at Spanian and hanging from vehicles like it was Taylor Swift in the hood.

After pronouncing Dandenong as “mad”, Spanian and his growing entourage move to Doveton which, he’s told, supplied the highest rate of male imprisonment for some years.

Everyone cruises past a place where locals do their court-imposed community service work before a visit to the shops where Spanian poses for more selfies.

At some stage they pass a “super brothel”.

There is a squeal of rubber as a car salutes the group at high speed before BMWs give separate burnout displays in some kind of local tyre-smoking ceremony.

A man approaches Spanian and tells him he’s just got out of medium-security Ravenhall Correctional, choosing to do his full term to avoid parole conditions.

“I’d rather do the time,” he says.

The YouTube sensation got a true dose of Dandenong as he toured the suburb he rates as Melbourne's toughest hood. Picture: YouTube
The YouTube sensation got a true dose of Dandenong as he toured the suburb he rates as Melbourne's toughest hood. Picture: YouTube

Soon after, someone notes a spot where his mate’s sister was killed by a local butcher.

They visit a local boxing gym before the whole thing wraps up with Spanian getting a lift in yellow cap man’s Lamborghini.

The video doesn’t mock the locals in any way and the viewer comments beneath the video indicate plenty of others want him to tour their local.

“Can’t wait for the Frankston Vlog” and “definitely need to look into going to Moe and Morwell,” were two of them.

“Sunshine and Melton are also crazy,” wrote another poster.

“Would be mad to see some of Melbourne’s west in an episode. Sunshine/Maidstone … outer west Tarneit and Melton,” another said.

But there was one person who wanted to offer some perspective on the Dandenong experience.

“Living in Manila, this is our dream to live in a neighbourhood like this. Can’t believe these people sit around doing crime,” that poster wrote.

Spanian says he is set to look into some other Melbourne badass suburbs, among them “Fitzroy”.

Some would say the greatest danger posed by Fitzroy might be burning your lips on a coffee overheated by a distracted hipster barista.

Perhaps he meant Footscray.

MARCH

UNDER THE RADAR, PRUDENCE RULES

Some big underworld players are suspecting it’s time to keep a low profile in what is one of the Melbourne gangland’s most volatile periods.

Players who were previously prominent on social media now prefer to keep their heads below the parapet as tobacco war friction and various other disputes ratchet up the danger.

Others are making big changes to their daily routines to be on the safe (and alive) side.

Deadline has been told that more than one fearsome figure has been sleeping away from home to stay out of the crosshairs, knowing there are people of bad character who’d like to do them terminal harm.

Talk’s cheap but the contracts aren’t. There is persistent speculation about big money being available for those willing to put in the work to make bad things happen to bad people.

For prospective targets, and there are plenty of them, there’s no point making the task easier for a man with a gun by blabbing on TikTok or Insta about a favourite gym, restaurant or latest distinctive set of wheels.

After some fellow travellers went down for the permanent count last year, no one could blame various individuals for this newfound prudence.

The likes of Mohammed Keshtiar and Gavin Preston were hardly small fry but both were taken out in a deadly period which also claimed Robert Issa.

Mohammed Keshtiar came a cropper outside his South Yarra gym. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui
Mohammed Keshtiar came a cropper outside his South Yarra gym. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

The spate of deaths has slowed but the firebombings of tobacco shops and assets owned by the illicit industry’s players have not.

Last week, evidence emerged that one of the state’s most notorious loose cannon crime families has signed up as combatants.

Things aren’t expected to cool off any time soon, as exiled gangland identity Kazem Hamad continues to reshape the status quo from abroad.

Organised crime police believe Hamad will keep right on pulling the strings from his Middle-Eastern base and that has no shortage of willing helpers on call. He believes there is safety in numbers — as in the huge number of kilometres between Melbourne and the Middle East, about 12,500 of them.

One of Hamad’s alleged assistants, Majid Alibadi, recently rode from the Melbourne Assessment Prison in a Rolls-Royce after being granted bail.

Just days later, by sheer coincidence, the Furlan Club at Thornbury and the Emerald Reception Centre at Thomastown went up in flames.

The Furlan Club was to have held a boxing event involving prominent underworld figure Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim the following weekend.

The motive for the Emerald fire is unclear but odds-on to be something to do with an upcoming function someone wanted to see sabotaged.

Hot tip to avoid trouble in Melbourne’s underworld. Don’t update your location on the Gram.
Hot tip to avoid trouble in Melbourne’s underworld. Don’t update your location on the Gram.

Tobacco war attacks have evolved somewhat in recent months. The conflict started off last year with the firebombing of tobacconists, mostly linked to Fadi Haddara and others connected to Abdulrahim.

It then pivoted to damaging the business interests of key players, including restaurants, fitness centres, shops and cafes.

More recently there have been a number of attacks centred on timing, calculated to cause maximum disruption to an upcoming event.

The sad by-product of this is the collateral damage inflicted on innocent parties, like the blameless community members who run the Furlan Club.

The latest innocent victims were a family who own a western suburbs hardware severely damaged in a firebombing directed at a neighbouring tobacco outlet.

APRIL

WHITE IS RIGHT

He’s a smooth-talking, ambitious fellow with an eye on high office.

Our man also has a reputation as the gracious host with the most, though not in a way that he’d really like to be made known publicly.

Apparently, one annual get-together he holds is quite the social highlight for the cool set in the northern suburbs.

It could be described as a very white shindig for affluent blue bloods of politically pink persuasion.

Guests from the political sphere, the business community, media types, legal figures and a host of other influential players enjoy the hospitality in what might be described as a stimulating environment.

Something between a Seven network event for expendable political hacks and a Melbourne Football Club bucks party.

If only those Central American villagers who toil away in the fields to provide fuel for the big night could know the happiness they bring the high flyers.

Up the workers!

This high-flyer’s party has a reputation for providing a … stimulating environment.
This high-flyer’s party has a reputation for providing a … stimulating environment.

KILLERS IN ON THE TILES

Two of Australia’s most loathed characters share a passion — but it isn’t as sick as might be imagined.

Scrabble is their thing. Deadline sources say lifers Peter Norris Dupas and Ashley Mervyn Coulston, the triple killer who also likes a triple-word score, have spent years duking it out in marathon jailhouse matches.

The pair go head-to-head daily, testing their word skills behind the walls of the Hopkins Correctional Centre, near Ararat, in western Victoria.

They are said to take the matches seriously. No wonder, given the relatively high stakes involved.

Our source says the loser of each Coulston v Norris scrabble showdown must make the winner a cup of tea from the kitchen shared with another triple killer, the gender-fluid monster once known as Paul Charles Denyer.

Peter Dupas spends his days duking it out on the tiles.
Peter Dupas spends his days duking it out on the tiles.
Ashley Mervyn Coulston, the triple killer who loves a triple word score. Picture: Peter Ward
Ashley Mervyn Coulston, the triple killer who loves a triple word score. Picture: Peter Ward

Coulston and Dupas are regarded as model prisoners who know how the system works, causing zero trouble and fronting up for muster on time, every time.

They are regarded as “self-sufficient”, making no unnecessary work for the staff.

“They (staff) don’t want people coming up asking them a million questions,” our spy says.

Coulston and Dupas have not always been so civil.

Dupas was a scourge on women in Victoria for decades, committing murders and rapes on his way to criminal infamy.

In 1992, Coulston cold-bloodedly murdered three young people after responding to their newspaper classified advertisement looking for a fourth housemate.

Games, hobbies and obsessions are part of prison life. The story of the Birdman of Alcatraz, Robert Franklin Stroud, made it onto the silver screen the year before Stroud died in 1963. The multiple murderer, who spent 54 years in jail, mostly in solitary confinement, reared and sold birds and became a respected ornithologist. But mostly in Leavenworth Prison, not Alcatraz.

Our very own favourite bent cop Roger “The Dodger” Rogerson once got his psychiatrist to try to persuade a sceptical judge Rogerson was showing signs of dementia and severe depression.

The judge thought Roger was bluffing and sent him to a rural rehabilitation retreat, otherwise known as a prison. Amazingly, or not, within weeks Rogerson made such a complete recovery he became the jail’s sudoku champion. He was also excellent at crosswords and cards.

MAY

SURVIVOR THOMASTOWN

Say what you like about bullet magnet Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim – and plenty do – but he is one of Melbourne’s great underworld survivors.

Abdulrahim’s near-miss last Friday morning as gunmen opened fire on him at Thomastown was testimony to his enduring good luck and, possibly, the poor marksmanship of the hit-team.

There are those in law enforcement and on the other side of the divide who believe it is a matter of time until Abdulrahim’s blessings are exhausted.

In recent years, police have foiled at least one attempt to eliminate him as the plot neared completion and have warned the boxer numerous times that his many enemies want him brown bread.

The Thomastown attack came less than two years after would-be killers almost finished off Abdulrahim in a funeral ambush.

In June, 2022, he narrowly survived being shot multiple times as he attended his cousin’s farewell at Fawkner Cemetery.

Police examine the bullet holes in Sam Abdulrahim’s home. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui
Police examine the bullet holes in Sam Abdulrahim’s home. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

One observer remarked the shooters who have repeatedly tried to kill Abdulrahim had similarities with the Richmond midfielders, generating forward entries then squandering their opportunities.

“They certainly turned the ball over at Thomastown. He ended up chasing the shooters down the street … defence turned into attack,” he said.

In between assassination attempts The Punisher has managed to defend the WBC Australasian cruiserweight title, where he knocked out Panya Chomphoophuang in fight in Bangkok — with the bout shifted to Thailand when the Melbourne venue set to host the venue torched.

Four businesses across Melbourne connected to Abdulrahim have also gone up in flames in attacks police believed were linked to the war over Victoria’s illicit tobacco trade.

Perhaps Abdulrahim is banking on the kind of against-the-odds longevity of his former Mongols bikie clubmates Toby Mitchell and Mark Balsillie.

Mitchell lived to tell the tale after being shot twice in the space of two years more than a decade ago.

Bullet holes mark the walls of the Keilor cafe where Gavin Preston had his last coffee. Picture: Tony Gough
Bullet holes mark the walls of the Keilor cafe where Gavin Preston had his last coffee. Picture: Tony Gough

Balsillie was wounded multiple times in a 2017 shooting which police suspect was the handiwork of former Comanchero triggerman Hasan Topal.

Other survivors have found their luck can only take them so far.

Gangland triggerman Nabil Maghnie avoided death twice, in 2011 and 2016, when injured in shootings.

It was third time unlucky when a gunman who still remains at large finished him off at Epping in January, 2020.

Maghnie’s old running mate Gavin Preston pulled through after being the victim of a vicious stabbing gang attack inside Barwon Prison in 2014.

He also managed to dodge death as he was stalked with murderous intent by dangerous armed robber Chris Binse some years earlier.

Fate finally caught up with Preston in September last year when he was shot dead in an underworld killing at a Keilor cafe.

JUNE

HERE’S THE DRUM

Tony Mokbel is a convicted drug dealer of the highest order and suspected of all manner of other criminal activity.

But could it be that the former underworld kingpin’s empire may also be linked to environmental offending in the distant past?

The saga — which we’ll admit goes back many years — has it that Mokbel once was forced to unload a country property where his race horses were kept.

Gangland scuttlebutt has it that a dam on the property dried up or was drained and that was when an interesting discovery was made.

In the bottom was a heap of drums.

There might have been a very good reason for this breach of Environment Protection Authority industrial waste disposal regulations.

Some had once contained the kind of chemicals which could have been of use in the manufacturing of drugs.

There has long been talk that the water did not have a positive effect on the nags which drank from the dam.

JULY

ROUGH END OF THE PINEAPPLE

Plans were recently revealed to open a new South Melbourne swingers venue known as Pineapple’s Lifetyle Bar.

Deadline was particularly interested in the rules at such an establishment after our exhaustive investigation some time back into regulations governing the Monkey Club in Kew.

The investigation revealed that the Monkey Club rules included edicts that guests not carry excess kilos, not wear scungy old jocks and to please provide a proof-of-lifestyle image in advance to show their “classiness.”

So, as part of our commitment to important public interest journalism, we’ve trawled the Pineapple’s website to get an idea of the dos and don’ts.

First step for those wanting some action is to look the part.

The Pineapple Lifestyle Bar is bringing some x-factor to South Melbourne. Picture: Jake Nowakowski
The Pineapple Lifestyle Bar is bringing some x-factor to South Melbourne. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

You’ll need to be in dressy casual, classy nightwear or dining wear even to get in the door and don’t even think about showing in “light denim.”

Do not lob at the City Rd hotspot in Crocs, Ugg boots, thongs or moccasins. Those who do are likely to get the rough end of the Pineapple.

Other banned clothing includes work uniforms, torn garments, gym gear, army camo, onesies, cosplay and swimwear.

Patrons are rightly warned to keep their hands to themselves around other clients, unless given the green light.

“Hate speech” is out of bounds and no drugs are permitted.

Forget about lighting a smoke or hitting the vape after some physical exertion because they’re off limits, too.

All so classy, except for the spelling. Visitors are requested to be on deck by 11pm to help build “repour” with other guests.

We’d like to tell you more but further Pineapple internet searches only came up with the message “bandwidth limit exceeded”.

This, apparently, means the site has more traffic than it can cope with.

AUGUST

MALKOUN’S SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS

What happens when the world of a feared bikie boss collides with Melbourne’s private school belt?

Former Comanchero supremo Jay Malkoun has given us a taste, revealing the drama his outlaw motorcycle gang profile caused when his daughters attended Melbourne Girls Grammar.

Malkoun’s entertaining memoir, released this week, spells out how his bad-guy image caused some furrowed brows among parents at the prestigious school.

“I was in the papers most days and usually on the front page,” he writes in The Consultant.

“Before too long, rumours reached us that some other mums were trying to get our girls thrown out of the school.”

Former Comanchero heavyweight Jay Malkoun. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers
Former Comanchero heavyweight Jay Malkoun. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

Malkoun, as he seems to have done in much of his life, was prepared to take a hard-line approach, if necessary.

Though the girls’ mother, Sam, was worried, Malkoun had a plan.

“I thought to myself, ‘Do your best, ladies. What do you think happens next? I’ll have Comos on every school gate greeting the mums and children as they arrive. Nobody’s going in or out. Take that to the parent teachers association, geniuses.”

As it happened, Malkoun didn’t need to execute that strategy.

The Consultant by Jay Malkoun was a must read for true crime buffs.
The Consultant by Jay Malkoun was a must read for true crime buffs.

“Fortunately, the school didn’t have a problem with the Malkouns and treated us as we presented, with respect and courtesy,” he wrote.

Despite that outcome, Malkoun recognised the negative impact his membership of a notorious outlaw gang could have on his children.

It was a point where he realised it was time to “look for other opportunities.”

“Our dream of having children and doing our best for them, providing a good education and everything else associated with developing well-rounded, smart, sporty kids was being hindered by my club life and gangster mates and all-round bad decisions.

“It was clear to me that I had made an epic mistake. Ultimately, it was isolating my children from school friends and any associated activity — such as birthday parties, play dates and all the stuff we take for granted — was at risk. I really f--ked up.”

ALL QUIET ON THE MAFIA FRONT

Five months after mafia-linked market figure John Latorre died in a fatal ambush, the reverberations are still being felt.

Deadline is told some Italian organised crime players have been paying much greater attention to personal security than before the Greenvale killing early this year.

That extends to one of the mafia’s most senior figures who’s doing a bit more than just looking over his shoulder.

The word is that he’s engaged a new driver (read bodyguard) lest he fall victim to the kind of ambush tactics he may have himself employed against enemies as a younger man.

It certainly would not be a cheap exercise but, when you have as much money as this bloke, it won’t break the bank.

Better than ending up like Latorre, who was completely exposed when a hit team struck outside his home in Buchanan Place.

The killers, probably a cut above the average suburban triggermen, knew just when the 64-year-old would set off for work at the Melbourne Markets in Epping and made sure they were in position.

They escaped the area on a small motorcycle and very little has been heard since.

John Latorre’s body is removed from the scene. Picture: Nicki Connolly
John Latorre’s body is removed from the scene. Picture: Nicki Connolly
Detectives talk with Mr Latorre’s family. Picture: Nicki Connolly
Detectives talk with Mr Latorre’s family. Picture: Nicki Connolly

SEPTEMBER

PHALLIC FELONS

Trying to navigate the criminal scene unscathed is tough stuff. Even worse than the constant risk of police handcuffs is the constant danger from fellow outlaws.

We hear of one such case in which a Melbourne crook fell foul of his brethren and they decided to remind him what can happen to those who step out of line.

Deadline is reliably informed the bad guys grabbed a coat hanger, twisted it into a crude shape and proceeded to heat it up.

The upshot is that the unfortunate victim now has a penis-shaped burn on his skin.

Of course, he is not the first crook to find himself the worse for wear when a relationship fractures.

If he needs medical attention, maybe he should consider former radio doc “Dr Feelgood”, whose medical degree is in her real name — Dr Cockburn.

Although a few lucky ones manage to leave bikie gangs intact, others find themselves paying a heavy price.

There are plenty of stories of club tattoos being removed with blowtorches and Harleys being commandeered as an exit fee.

Even outlaw motorcycle gangs have standards, which was bad news for Terrence Tognolini when his Hells Angels clubmates heard of his trick of giving drugs to young girls then sexually abusing them.

Tognolini was taken to the gang’s Nomads clubhouse in Thomastown and given a fearful hiding then allegedly carted out in a wheelbarrow and dumped in the street.

A rider who left the Bandidos many years ago had a visit from three former comrades who shoved a gun in his mouth, cut his ear with a knife and bashed him over the head with a guitar.

They then stole his bikes. Arguably not as bad as being given a penis-shaped branding.

SEPTEMBER

THE THIEF, THE TIE AND THE BROWNLOW WINNER

The thing about proven thief and accused serial rapist Geoff “Borer” Clark is that a lot of people who’ve dealt with him since the 1970s remember it — but rarely for good reasons.

These brushes with Clark are at both ends of the sporting, social and political spectrum.

Some time around the early 2000s, Clark was welcomed to the best seats in the best AFL corporate box along with various football and rugby figures, courtesy of mega-sponsor Rio Tinto.

He didn’t punch anybody but didn’t endear himself to at least one AFL official who recalls his behaviour and the sycophantic way he was treated.

The first oddity was that Clark (then the chair of ATSIC) and his companion did not mix with the other guests, including two Indigenous rugby players. Worse, he demanded an AFL tie like the one an AFL executive was wearing.

Geoff Clark arrives at the County Court in Melbourne. Picture: Tamati Smith.
Geoff Clark arrives at the County Court in Melbourne. Picture: Tamati Smith.

To the embarrassment of some, the AFL man, a legend of the game, quickly unknotted his own tie and handed it to Clark on the spot, despite the fact Clark could easily have waited for one to be sent within a day or two.

“In the formality of the corporate suite, I am sure, my very proper colleague felt acutely uncomfortable with his now open neck shirt,” the insider recalls.

“It has stuck in my mind all these years — I just could not share the reverence with which others apparently regarded this man. He was clearly used to getting what he wanted. At the time it seemed clearly like a demand and I felt embarrassed with my colleague that he acquiesced so quickly.”

The nice guy in this exchange once won a Brownlow. If there’s any justice, Clark will win the Downlow — a spell back behind bars for the first time since he was a vicious young thug.

Some 15 years before the corporate box stint, Clark took part in what became a notorious local footy match.

A knockabout ex-postie from Terang sends Deadline a message that has been edited for colourful language. Our correspondent states in part:

“Borer Clarke was a Dog, I remember having a kick with kolora football club v purnim bears I’m thinking 1986, borer and his cronies from fitzroy all stars kicked the s*** out of most of us! Our coach Peter Reilly who could fight like an axe murderer decked Borer and the rest of the Bears s*** themselves!”

Christopher Wayne Hudson (pictured his younger years) is expected to take his stepson under his wing in the big house.
Christopher Wayne Hudson (pictured his younger years) is expected to take his stepson under his wing in the big house.

NOVEMBER

A PRISON GUARDIAN ANGEL

New inmates to the prison system can find themselves a bit vulnerable.

Nasty hazards await novice jailbirds in a menacing world where being without networks is a potential threat to life and limb.

There are conflicting accounts about one young fellow’s start after he was remanded recently over some high-level alleged offending.

We have been told he’s the stepson of infamous CBD gunman Christopher Wayne Hudson, a man with plenty of pull behind bars.

Hells Angel Hudson, a former Fink, killed one man, wounded another and severely bashed two women in a drug-fuelled rampage which started in a King St strip club in 2007.

Anyway, after a recent court appearance, it seems the stepson was twitchy about his first trip to the big house. His mother quickly took to social media to try to allay any fears about her boy’s circumstances.

Accompanied by The Game’s tune “Like Father Like Son” and with a photo of Hudson, she made it clear she expected her boy to be safe and sound.

“Run this story!!! His (he’s) with his stepdad Huddo has been locked up for 17 years. My son is more than fine,” mum wrote in a message which has been doing the rounds in Melbourne.

The mother was also indignant about any suggestion he was refused bail because she did not know what he was doing.

“Incident happened at … 4.10am. My son contacts me at 4.20am.”

Glad we’ve cleared that up.

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-victoria/deadline-the-best-but-mostly-worst-of-deadline-for-2024/news-story/aa172f05a16df0594ab669791692d73b