Melbourne gang rivalry erupts with brutal slaying

Notorious Middle Eastern crime brothers Abdullah and Ali El Nasher each have serious rap sheets including nightmare assaults, stabbings and more recently, murder.

The shooting took place outside the Melbourne Pavilion, killing one person and injuring two others. Picture: James Ross

Hundreds of revellers including some of the biggest names in the underworld packed the Melbourne Pavilion when gunfire erupted from outside.

Patrons were expecting a night of boxing entertainment, but were now hiding under tables fearing for their lives.

Outside the Kensington venue, Ben Togiai lay dead while his friend Omar Bchinnati was wounded after they were victim of a targeted shooting.

Inside the foyer, another friend Joseph Abouchaya was bleeding on the ground after he was shot in the stomach and leg.

Despite brimming with organised crime figures, violence at such events is rare.

Foes from warring bikie gangs have over many years been seen enjoying a meal and drinks within spitting distance of each other without drama, like some kind of gangland green zone.

But on the evening of March 1, 2019, trouble was brewing at the Big Time Boxing event.

The heavy police presence after three people were shot at Melbourne Pavilion. Picture: Lawrence Pinder

Police at the scene where there people were shot and one killed. Picture: Lawrence Pinder

Seated at table 28 were the El Nasher brothers Abdullah, Ali and Khaled and their friend Mikhael Myko among others.

At nearby table 64 was another group, including Mr Abouchaya, Mr Togiai and Mr Bchinnati, the latter a northern suburbs identity who had been feuding with the El Nashers.

The tables traded barbs throughout the evening, with Abdullah seen making a cutthroat gesture to the other men.

In the lead-up to the shooting, he turned off his phone before using a friend’s to text another mate Osamma Allouche to come along.

“Melbourne Pavilion. 28,” he texted.

“Bring my little friend.”

CCTV played to the Supreme Court earlier this year showed Abdullah walking back to his car before returning with a black satchel that was believed to contain a gun.

He later left again to take up position in preparation for the attack.

About 10pm, the two tables were kicked out by security.

As they spilt onto the street, Abdullah ran across the road firing seven .25 automatic Colt rounds from a handgun at the other group.

Mr Togiai, 33, was struck by a single bullet in the chest and died at the scene while Mr Bchinnati was shot in the thigh as he ran away.

Allouche also fired a single shot aimed at the footpath before he and Abdullah fled separately.

Up to 40 people were on the footpath at the time, with many panicked patrons rushing back inside the venue as the violence unfolded.

Seconds after the outdoor shooting, the El Nashers’ friend Mikhael Myko opened fire on Mr Abouchaya inside the foyer, hitting him twice in the leg and chest.

Ali El Nasher allegedly stomped on the wounded man’s head before Myko pistol whipped him in the face.

Abdullah and Myko fled to Sydney after the shooting but were arrested and charged a week later.

CCTV revealed Mr Abouchaya was himself armed with a gun, resulting in a plea deal that saw Myko’s charges downgraded from attempted murder to recklessly causing serious injury to which he pleaded guilty.

With time served on remand, Myko walked free from court last month.

Abdullah and Allouche were charged with Mr Togiai’s murder and faced a month-long trial in the Supreme Court, claiming they acted in self-defence.

After three days of deliberations, jurors last month found Abdullah guilty while Allouche was acquitted.

Allouche pleaded guilty to a single charge of a prohibited person using a firearm and was sentenced 12 months’ jail but, with nearly four years spent behind bars on remand, he was immediately released.

Abdullah will be sentenced later this year.

El Nasher crime family

Abdullah and Ali are two of eight El Nasher siblings.

While Abdullah, 32, was last month convicted of Ben Togiai’s murder and is facing life behind bars, his older brother Ali has had more run-ins with the law.

In 2020, police described him as a “significant Middle-Eastern crime figure.”

Ali first came into contact with police when he was young and, a court heard, later developed a friendship group based on drug-taking and alcohol consumption.

The same hearing was told that by age 22, he had a cocaine addiction.

Despite being a father-of-two, this would later blow out to a habit of between one and seven grams a day.

That was during a breach of bail court hearing which had resulted from allegations he ran foul of curfew conditions imposed over the fight-night charges.

Last year, Ali was jailed over the stabbing of a tow truck driver at Craigieburn.

Ali Al Hamza was arriving at a mechanic workshop in Campbellfield when Ali and a mate parked beside his Isuzu.

Ben Togiai, 30, from Craigieburn, died after being shot outside Melbourne Pavilion.

The forklift driver was one of three who were shot but the only person who died.

As Mr Al Hamza walked towards the back of the factory, Ali reversed quickly in an attempt to run him over but missed and ploughed into other vehicles.

The victim swung at Ali’s car with a ratchet strap bar.

In a subsequent confrontation, the outnumbered Mr Al Hamza suffered stab wounds including a punctured lung and knife injuries to the neck, chest and left arm.

Ali, who pleaded guilty, was later sentenced to a minimum of two years and four months in prison.

In 2012, Ali and his brother Abdullah were involved in a nightmare assault which began in Brunswick.

The victim was travelling along Harrison St when his path was blocked by a group of about 30 people and their vehicles.

A County Court hearing was told the driver asked if someone could help guide his car through.

“You dumb f--k. You can’t drive, you stupid skip,” was the reply.

A male kicked the vehicle, another jumped on the roof and a third smashed the driver’s window and punched him in the face.

Abdullah then tried to rip the keys out of the ignition and the victim reversed quickly away as the danger escalated.

The driver, his face bloodied, then drove towards Sydney Rd, chased by Abdullah and Ali at up to 100km/h in zones allowing half that speed.

He was eventually trapped near Lygon St and dragged from the vehicle before the brothers slammed his head into a door and threw him on the road.

Others held the victim down as he was punched and kicked.

County Court judge Richard Maidment gave a scathing assessment of the way Abdullah and his brother had behaved.

“Your conduct was appalling and utterly inexcusable. You both behaved like brutal, cowardly thugs, no doubt emboldened by a mob of your peers and those of that mob that joined you in the pursuit. You showed your victim absolutely no mercy, consideration or normal feelings of humanity,” he said.