Gavin Preston argued self defence to get a reduced sentence for 2012 drug dealer killing
Police suspected Gavin Preston killed high-end ice trafficker Adam Khoury in an execution style slaying over an unpaid debt, but things played out differently when the case hit court.
Police & Courts
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An informer told police a criminal shot by Gavin Preston was killed over a drug debt but the gangland figure later successfully argued self-defence.
High-end ice trafficker Adam Khoury was shot dead by Preston at his North Melbourne apartment on February 11, 2012, in what police suspected was an execution-style slaying.
An information report was prepared within two days stating that Khoury owed a drug debt to Gavin Preston, his underworld running mate Nabil Maghnie and a third man with a reputation for violence and firearms crime.
The document, given to the Purana taskforce with an informer rating of “mostly reliable”, stated Khoury was trafficking ATS (amphetamine-type substances) with crime heavyweight John Higgs and another man.
“The debt was never sorted out between them and Adam Khoury was killed because of it,” the report stated.
Preston was later charged with Khoury’s murder but was able to get a reduced sentence by pleading guilty to defensive homicide.
He had earlier shot another man in the western suburbs the previous month over the same debt.
A month before Khoury was shot, underworld solicitor Nicola Gobbo told police Preston had a hit list with her name on it.
Also named on the list were Higgs, Carlton Crew figure Mick Gatto, former Bandido Toby Mitchell and another man.
Preston was released from prison over the Khoury killing in Autumn of this year.
He immediately returned to standover work, severely upsetting Melbourne’s gangland apple cart.
Two gunmen shot him dead as he sat with mate Abbas Junior Maghnie, the son of Nabil Maghnie, on September 9 at the Sweet Lulu Cafe in Keilor.
The cold-blooded killing is the subject of a major homicide squad investigation with a high number of potential suspects and motives.
More details have emerged about Preston‘s violent history which stretched back more than three decades.
In 1990 a teenaged Preston beat a 21 year old, who was walking home from the footy, with a stick that resulted in the victim suffering a fractured hand.
Preston was found guilty by a county court jury for intentionally causing injury — hitting the man in the face before striking him three more times to the back as he fell to the ground.
A year later he left a Northcote supermarket manager with a fractured ankle and nose after a violent assault.
Preston headbutted the manager in the nose before swinging him by the hair and hitting him in the face.
As his victim lay on the ground, Preston kicked him in the groin and head.
A County Court judge set a minimum term of 18 months for the two unrelated offences, describing them as “vicious” and “cowardly”.
A former prison officer who dealt with Preston in the early 90s said he was always of the highest security rating.
The ex-guard recalled him once refusing to stand and telling a judge to “f... off,” as he was sentenced over an armed robbery.
It was behaviour which was not the product of a bad upbringing, he said.
“My first reaction when that happened (Preston’s murder) was his parents. They were such nice people,” the officer said.
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