Love Machine getaway driver Allan Fares argues he was enticed by his friend into driving the stolen Porsche used in the shooting

The man driving a stolen Porsche used in a drive-by shooting outside a Prahran nightclub claims he was involved due to “misguided loyalty” to his friend.

The driver in the Love Machine nightclub shooting has blamed his gunman mate for involving him in the revenge attack.

Jacob Elliott, 21, and Allan Fares, 25, are facing life behinds bars after they were convicted of murder for the drive-by shooting outside the Prahran nightclub that claimed two lives in April 2019.

On the third day of a pre-sentencing hearing at the Supreme Court, Fares’ lawyer Campbell Thomson argued his client was enticed by Elliott into driving the stolen Porsche used in the shooting.

“Mr Elliot is a commanding character … and Mr Fares, it’s clear, looked up to that,” Mr Thomson said on Friday.

“He told Mr Fares what to do and Mr Fares went along with it.”

Mr Thomson said Fares did not have a motive unlike his friend who pulled the trigger and he had shown regret for his actions.

Two people were killed in the shooting outside Love Machine nightclub in April 2019. Picture: AAP

“Allan Fares had no motivation to get involved in this at all, he had no beef with Love Machine,” he said.

“What he had was misguided loyalty to his friend.”

Justice Andrew Tinney disagreed, noting Fares could’ve backed out of the agreement.

“He had … ample opportunity to come to his senses and say ‘Jacob I’m not going to do this, it’s not my beef and I’m not prepared to be a murderer,’” Justice Tinney said.

Mr Thomson also claimed his client wasn’t the “guiding light” behind the shooting and was only with Elliott for about 15 minutes before the trigger was pulled.

But Justice Tinney rejected the claim and said there must have been a moderate degree of planning involved.

Mr Thomson conceded his client should receive a “weighty” jail term but asked Justice Tinney not to impose a life sentence.

During the trial, Elliott gave evidence saying he pressured his friend into helping him carry out the shooting.

On Thursday, Fares’ father Marcel Fares told the court his son, who was a bricklayer before his arrest, was “distraught” in jail and regretted his actions.

Elliott and Fares were earlier this year found guilty of murder and attempted murder over the drive-by shooting that claimed the lives of patron Richard Arow, 28, and security guard Aaron Khalid Osmani, 37, and injured three others.

Aaron Khalid Osmani.

Richard Arow.

During the early hours of April 14, 2019, the pair carried out the shooting in retaliation after Elliott’s younger half-brother, Ali Maghnie, was kicked out of the club earlier in the night.

The men left their homes in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, picked up a gun, balaclavas and a stolen Porsche before making their way to the Prahran nightclub.

They drove around the club four times before Elliott fired into a crowd of revellers and security guards on the fifth pass.

Elliott claimed his feared underworld figure father, Nabil Maghnie, had ordered him to fire “warning shots” but he had mistakenly shot into the crowd.

But the jury rejected the claim, finding Elliott fired the gun with the intention to kill.

Maghnie, 44, who was considered one of the most dangerous figures in the city’s underworld, was himself shot dead in Epping in January 2020.

His murder remains unsolved.

A third man, Moussa Hamka, 28, was found guilty of assisting the pair by hiding the murder weapon after the shooting.

The trio have spent more than three years in custody since their arrests.

They will be sentenced at a later date.