Love Machine victim’s partner tells court shooting was ‘terrifying, life-altering’ event

The partner of a Melbourne man who was gunned down outside Love Machine nightclub has told a court the “gutless” perpetrators “aimed to kill”.

The partner of a Melbourne man who was gunned down outside Love Machine nightclub has described her boyfriend’s killers as “completely gutless” and had shown no remorse.

Rebekah Spinks was lining up outside the entrance to the Prahran nightclub with her partner, Richard Arow, 28, when a stolen Porsche drove past and fired four gunshots into the crowd.

Jacob Elliott — the son of slain underworld figure Nabil Maghnie — and his friend Allan Fares were earlier this year convicted of murder over the April 2019 shooting that claimed the lives of Mr Arow and security guard Aaron Khalid Osmani.

During a pre-sentencing hearing at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Ms Spinks broke down in tears as she read out a victim impact statement that detailed the horror aftermath of the fatal shooting.

Love Machine shooting victim Richard Arow has been described as a man of integrity with dreams of becoming a firefighter.

“They shot at a crowd of defenceless people, it was completely gutless,” she said.

“They didn’t aim at the roof or the sky, they didn’t aim at the ground, they aimed to kill.”

Ms Spinks said she heard the crack of gunfire before seeing her partner fall to the ground like a “rag doll”.

“The only way I get through the days is reminding myself, while I have lost a lot … Richard has lost everything.

“What began as the most beautiful day and evening quickly became the most harrowing, terrifying and life-altering event.

“The people on the street ran (away) and I ran to Richard … from time to time I have to hear the bloodcurdling scream from my own lungs as the news replays our horror.”

Mr Arow, who migrated to Australia as a child refugee from South Sudan, was described as a man of integrity who was ambitious and had dreams of becoming a firefighter.

Ms Spinks’ sister, Frith Williams, said she recognised the morbid irony that Mr Arow left South Sudan to escape civil war violence only to be gunned down in Melbourne.

Security guard Aaron Khalid Osmani was also killed in the shooting outside the club.

The court heard Ms Spinks suffered extreme post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the shooting and could no longer never sit outside busy cafes or be around crowds of people.

Security guard Semisi Tu’itufu, who took a bullet to the shoulder during the shooting, had his victim impact statement read to the court which detailed his anger at the perpetrators.

“My friends had nothing to do with what happened that night,” he said.

“I have to live with my friends losing their lives that night for the rest of my life.”

In the early hours of April 14, 2019, Elliott fired four shots from a stolen Porsche into a crowd of patrons and security guards who were outside the club while Fares was behind the wheel.

They had carried out the shooting in revenge after Elliott’s younger half-brother Ali Maghnie was kicked out of the club hours earlier.

The men pleaded not guilty to murder.

Jacob Elliott, 18, has been convicted of the Love Machine shootings. Picture: Facebook

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

Maghnie, who was considered one of the most dangerous figures in the city’s underworld, was himself shot dead in Epping in January 2020 with his murder remaining unsolved.

The jury rejected Elliott’s claim and found the men guilty of two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.

A third man, Moussa Hamka, was convicted of assisting the men by hiding the handgun used in the shooting.

Crown prosecutor Patrick Bourke QC asked Justice Andrew Tinney to impose a lengthy jail term for the mens’ “barbaric and callous” offending.

“They had complete disregard for the victims, their humanity or their right to life,” he said.

The hearing, which is expected to run for three days, continues.