Mikhael Myko ‘turned his life around’ after Big Time Boxing shooting, court hears

A man who shot his rival after a Kensington boxing match will walk free after a court found he had turned his life around and had spent enough time behind bars.

A Melbourne man who shot a rival at a Melbourne boxing match originally told police he was ‘too drunk’ to remember the life-threatening assault.

Just seconds after Craigieburn dad Ben Togiai was fatally shot dead outside a Big Time Boxing event at the Melbourne Pavilion in Kensington on March 1, 2019, Mikhael Myko pulled out his handgun and shot Mr Togiai’s mate, Joseph Abouchaya, as a panicked crowd rushed back into the venue.

A smug-looking Myko sat in the dock of the Supreme Court on Thursday where, prior to his sentencing, he took videos of the courtroom and answered a phone call before being told twice to switch off his device by the judge’s clerk.

The gun-wielding thug pleaded guilty to a single charge of recklessly causing serious injury in May this year after spending 21 months on bail.

Justice Christopher Beale, who recounted the “life-threatening” attack, ruled Myko, who had already served 806 days of pre-sentence detention, had spent enough time behind bars.

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

Mikhael Myko will soon walk free from prison after a judge found he had spent enough time behind bars.

He said Myko’s “relatively early guilty plea”, “onerous bail conditions” and lack of prior convictions had weighed in on his decision.

Justice Beale also noted that all five character references, two of which were from his parents, noted he had expressed remorse, with some detailing his efforts to adopt “a healthier lifestyle” away from drugs.

“It seems you’ve turned your life around,” Justice Beale said, adding that it would be “unproductive” to send Myko back to custody.

He also recognised that, due to the pandemic, Myko was unable to attend his younger brother’s funeral in 2019 because he was behind bars.

Tensions between Myko and his associates – including Abdullah El Nasher, who was found guilty of murdering Mr Togiai after a Supreme Court trial earlier this year – and a rival group who sat at a nearby table at the event, turned deadly when the two groups were escorted out of the venue.

Abdullah El Nasher faced a Supreme Court trial for the Melbourne Pavilion boxing murder earlier this year. Picture: David Crosling

As El Nasher fired five shots into the crowd, attendees rushed back into the pavilion where Myko and his associate, El Nasher’s brother, Ali El Nasher, stood facing the exits.

Seconds later, Mr Abouchaya, a mate of Mr Togiai, appeared in the doorway with a gun in his hand that was pointed at the ground.

Myko then fired four shots at Mr Abouchaya, two of which struck him in the stomach and leg.

As he lay bleeding on the ground, Ali El Nasher began stomping on his head before Myko “pistol whipped” him, the prosecution recounted to the court.

The attack, which lasted just 20 seconds, caused life-threatening injuries to Mr Abouchaya, who was rushed to hospital with significant damage to his bowel and colon and spent six days in intensive care.

An interstate manhunt for Myko and the El Nashers followed when the threesome fled following the attacks.

When Myko was later arrested by police he confirmed that he did attend the event but claimed he “couldn’t remember” what happened due to being “very drunk”.

Mr Abouchaya, who suffered face fractures, two gunshot wounds and pelvic bleeding, later told cops he had “no memory” of the night and declined to make a victim impact statement.