Love Machine shooter Jacob Elliott jailed over Love Machine nightclub murders

The son of slain crime boss Nabil Maghnie told the judge to “shut the f--k up” as he was sentenced over the Love Machine murders.

The son of slain crime boss Nabil Maghnie who murdered two people in a drive-by shooting outside Love Machine nightclub has been jailed for life.

Jacob Elliott, 21, was sentenced in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to life behind bars with a non-parole period of 29 years for gunning down security guard Aaron Khalid Osmani, 37, and patron Richard Arow, 28, at the Prahran nightclub on April 14, 2019.

His mate, Allan Fares, 25, who was driving the stolen Porsche while Elliott fired four shots from the passenger window, was also found guilty of the murders and jailed for life with 27 years to be served before he is eligible for parole.

In handing down his sentence, Justice Andrew Tinney said the murders could not be considered anything less than barbaric, callous and in the worst category of offending.

“Your joint intentions were put into frightening and devastating effect by your combined actions,” he said.

“Two innocent and blameless men lay mortally wounded on the road, three other men had been shot.

“Numerous innocent bystanders had been exposed to terrifying acts of violence carried out in front of them.

As Justice Tinney announced Elliott’s sentence, a man, believed to be from one of the victim’s families, rushed to the court dock but was quickly restrained by custody officers.

He was removed from the courtroom.

Jacob Elliott, 18, has been sentenced to life in prison over the murder of two people in a drive-by shooting outside Prahran nightclub Love Machine. Picture: Facebook

Elliott laughed and clapped as the sentence was announced which was followed by yelling and crying from his family.

One woman yelled: “We love you, Jacob”.

Earlier in the sentence, Elliott yelled “shut the f--- up and read the sentence” as Justice Tinney described the murders as “outrageous” and “evil”.

“You better keep your mouth shut or you’ll be removed from the court Mr. Elliott,” Justice Tinney said.

Justice Tinney said the pair’s “evil” plan had inflicted untold sadness and grief upon the families of the victims.

“The relative calm of the streets of Melbourne had been disrupted and defiled by a crime of such viciousness and lawlessness as to shock the community,” he said.

The men, who were also convicted on two counts of attempted murder and one count of intentionally causing serious injury after three others were struck with bullets, were found guilty by a jury in April following a four-week trial.

Outside court, former security guard Semisi Tu’itufu, who was shot in the shoulder but survived, held back tears as he spoke of the murders of Mr Arow and Mr Osmani.

“They were my friends, two of my best friends, they died, they didn’t deserve that,” he said.

“Two innocent people died that night and they didn’t deserve what happened.”

Forensic police examine items at the scene of a multiple shooting outside Love Machine nightclub in Prahran. Picture: Ellen Smith

Elliott never denied pulling the trigger but his barrister Julie Condon, KC, argued he never intended to kill or seriously injure anyone.

She asked the jury to find Elliott guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter which carries a shorter prison sentence.

During his testimony, Elliott revealed his feared father Nabil Maghnie, who was shot dead in Epping in January 2020, ordered him to drive to the nightclub and fire “warning shots” in retaliation for his younger half-brother Ali Maghnie being kicked out from the venue by security guards hours earlier.

After his ejection, Ali Maghnie yelled to security: “You’re all f---ed; you wait, I’m coming back”.

He then called his father to complain “these guards kicked the f--- out of me”.

Elliott told the jury his father was a violent and intimidating man who you can’t “say no to”.

“He said ‘get two hotties (stolen cars) ready, I want you to let off some warning shots at the front of the club’,” Elliott told the court.

“I asked him if he can get someone else to do it (and) that I don’t feel comfortable doing it.

“He said something like shut the f--k up and get ready.”

Security guard Aaron Khalid Osmani was killed in the shooting outside Love Machine Nightclub. Picture: Supplied

But Justice Tinney rejected the claim that Maghnie had demanded his son to carry out the shooting, finding the only evidence of the order came from Elliott himself.

It also took the jury a little over a week of deliberations to dismiss Elliott’s claim that he’d mistakenly fired the gun into the crowd.

They also rejected Fares’ claim he had no intention for anyone to be shot.

The jury instead found the friends had organised and carried out the attack with the intention to kill or seriously injure people.

Prosecutor Patrick Bourke KC summed it up to the jury: “Pointing a gun where you know people are standing from a close range, pulling the trigger four times, in our submission to you, tells you what in truth he was intending.”

Mr Bourke disputed Elliott’s claims of reluctance to complete his father’s orders, pointing out phone location data placed Elliott near a meeting spot in Wollert less than 15 minutes after a call with his younger brother.

“All that’s happened pretty quickly, so where is the time for reluctance, avoidance?” Mr Bourke said.

Patron Richard Arow was also gunned down and later died in hospital.

Elliott messaged Fares on encrypted messaging app Wickr asking him to help, with the jury finding the pair had made an agreement to carry out the shooting.

The friends met in Wollert, driving in convoy in a stolen black 4WD Porsche and a Suzuki Swift before meeting near the club and both jumping in the Porsche.

The pair drove past the club four times before on the fifth pass, Fares slowed down as Elliott held a semiautomatic handgun out the window and pulled the trigger.

CCTV played to the court showed Mr Osmani and Mr Arow talking to one another with their backs to the road when the Porsche drove past and opened fire on them.

Dozens of panicked revellers fled into the club and up the road while the two men fell to the ground.

Despite desperate efforts by bystanders and emergency services, the men could not be saved.

A third man, Moussa Hamka, was found guilty of being an accessory to murder after the fact after he later hid the gun used at his home.

He will be sentenced at a later date.