Deadline: The three-way contest for best criminal nickname

Gavin “Capable” Preston — so named because he is reputedly “capable of anything” — may just have lived up to his nickname by organising a wedding from behind bars.

Gangland nickmanes tend to have a way of perfectly capturing the spirit of a crim.

The underworld heavyweight title for best criminal nickname — in limbo since the deaths of Rentakill, The Munster, and Chopper — is a three-way contest.

Top contender is Gavin “Capable” Preston, who has just been freed from jail after 11 years for shooting drug dealer Adam Khoury in a case of defensive homicide, arguably a public service.

Capable, so named because he is reputedly “capable of anything”, is certainly quick on the draw.

Even before he had left prison, Preston persuaded a lady friend to accept his proposal for lawful matrimony.

If the wedding comes off before Capable is banged up again, either in a cell or a coffin, it might be the first lawful thing he’s done since he was 18. At 50, he’s a senior citizen by gunman standards, not that many will mention it to his face.

Gavin ‘Capable’ Preston. Picture: Hamish Blair

If Capable is making up for lost time to complete his to-do list, you don’t want to be on it.

Someone who is on it is also a rival candidate for having the best criminal nickname. That’s Chris “Badness” Binse, the notorious armed robber and jail escapee who happens to be Preston’s sworn enemy.

Also high on the Preston hit list are Toby Mitchell and, reputedly, Mick Gatto.

Preston remains the prime suspect for shooting Mitchell outside Doherty’s gym in Brunswick in 2011.

The third contender for the top crim nickname is a dark horse whose true form is not completely exposed. This is Percy “No Mercy” Lanciana, a former kickboxing champ and one of a bunch of quiet achievers with influence around town.

Christopher ‘Badness’ Binse.

Percy “No Mercy” has had bad luck. His 23-year-old wife Maryanna, mother of his baby, was shot dead at home in Werribee in 1984, executed by an intruder who apparently knew the house well, as there were no signs of a break-in.

Lanciana was working late at a nightclub that night and staying with his folks near Footscray.

He subsequently matched the official $50,000 reward for information on his wife’s killing but, sadly, no such information has ever been forthcoming.

Police later investigated Lanciana over two other murders. One was of career crook Dimitrios Belias in a St Kilda Rd carpark in 1999. The other was the execution of bodybuilder and bouncer George Germanos in an Armadale park in 2001.

Percy ‘No Mercy’ Lanciana arrives at the Supreme Court. Picture: Hamish Blair

The homicide squad is also sizing up Lanciana for information on other unsolved killings, including that of another young woman who was home alone in the western suburbs when an armed intruder shot her in the head.

Meanwhile, however, Lanciana is doing 14 years for his part in one of the biggest and slickest heists ever pulled in Australia — the Richmond Armaguard van robbery staged by a fake roadworks crew in 1994.

The names of his alleged accomplices are well-known but, apart from one who hanged himself after fleeing to Scotland, they have evaded prosecution.

Undercover cop has a brave fan

Former undercover cop Lachlan McCulloch still attracts criticism from several ex-police — mostly anonymously.

The launching last week of our podcast, film and print series on McCulloch’s year of living dangerously undercover has prompted the usual reaction when any ex-cop is singled out for praise or attention, especially if he has blown the whistle on rats in the ranks.

It seems that the flip side of the so-called Brotherhood is that police who are supposedly dedicated to each other’s welfare, in fact rarely miss a sneaky chance to backstab other ex-members. Mean schoolgirls have nothing on cops when it comes to bitchiness, which is why police politics is so brutal. Ask Simon Overland, Sir Ken Jones and Paul Mullett.

It reminds us of the case of another undercover cop, Robbie Robertson, after he was recently belatedly nominated for a valour award for his scary run-in with armed killer Russell “Mad Dog” Cox in 1978.

Former undercover policeman Rob Robertson. Picture: Alex Coppel

Russell ‘Mad Dog’ Cox.

A story about Robertson’s ordeal prompted one snarky ex-cop to send in his own complete police CV, a long list of worthy tasks performed well away from armed robbers.

All of which makes a message received this week very welcome. It comes from one Josh Downes, who writes:

Thank you for your insight in today’s Herald Sun into Lachlan.

I had the joy as a young lad of 12 going on a summer fishing trip to Falls Creek. My mother was attending a conference during the days so I would head up to the lake and try and catch some trout. Being a saltwater fisherman I was having real trouble getting a bite.

On the second day a lone fly fisherman approached me; after some small talk he proceeded to completely re-rig my rod, taught me how to select grasshoppers as bait and sight fish brown trout.

For the next few days we fished the lake, sometimes talking, sometimes not. He was a cracking bloke with a patience and kindness that was second to none.

It was only on returning home sometime later that I recognised Lachlan on the news. He was giving evidence against police corruption!

Former Victorian Police Officer Lachlan McCulloch. Picture: Mark Stewart

He had been in some sort of witness protection tucked away in Falls Creek with his wife.

I’m reaching out to you to pass on my thanks to him. As a wayward young fella whose father had shot through, I still enjoy thinking about that time. Lachlan was truly great to be around and to read about the sacrifices he made to do his job. I’m all the prouder for having met him.

To which Deadline adds a postscript: Josh Downes is the young Mt Eliza man awarded the Bravery Medal in 2020 for saving an injured truck driver whose vehicle had rolled over and caught fire next to the Mornington Peninsula freeway in May, 2016.

Big future, dirty past

One AFL recruit can be most thankful he’ll be getting the chance to pull on the boots in the big-time.

Some big football names have come unstuck because of indiscriminate phone use and this bloke would not want to join them.

It wasn’t so long ago that our hero was dealing with as much interest from police as from talent scouts. In fact, the cops were having a good, hard look at him over the distribution of some harrowing footage of a teenage girl at a party.

It was a crime compounded by the fact that it depicted an unconscious victim.

The images were then circulated to others via text message and social media and later shown to the victim at her school, causing unimaginable distress.

Our man can probably be very thankful he lives in a world that offers second chances. But he’s unlikely to get another pass if it happens again.

Come again?

A man appeared recently before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court representing himself in an application for bail.

The magistrate on the bench was at pains to inform him he could take a few days and get a lawyer, or he could go ahead and seek bail himself.

The 30-minute bail application went ahead, and he failed.

On being told he’d be remanded in custody, the man in the dock got all surprised.

“Oh, no way!” he spluttered. “Can I apply for bail?”

“We just went through that,” the magistrate said.

The accused man continued, “Cos I can fill out paperwork if you’d like?”

But the magistrate indicated he would not like. Bail denied.

Bum rap for fiddy cent

You have to wonder about criminals sometimes.

A bloke who recently found himself kidnapped by other reprobates in country Victoria was forced to treat himself like a coin slot using a 50-cent piece. Just one of the reasons why wise people wash their hands after handling money.