Bullet evidence from Melbourne Pavilion boxing event shooting ‘contaminated’
Ballistics evidence from a Melbourne boxing event shooting in which father Ben Togiai was killed may have been contaminated with police vehicles running over bullets and one officer finding one in his shoe, a court has heard.
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Ballistics evidence from a Melbourne boxing event shooting may have been contaminated with police vehicles running over bullets and one officer finding one in his shoe, a court has heard.
Abdullah El Nasher, 29, from Port Melbourne, his brother Ali El Nasher, 30, from Brunswick, as well as associates Mikhael Myko, 27, from Pascoe Vale, and Osamma Allouche, 25, from Coburg, have all been charged over the alleged shootout at Melbourne Pavilion in Kensington on March 1 last year.
Father Ben Togiai was killed in the shooting, while his kickboxer mate Omar Bchinnati and associate Joseph Abouchaya were wounded.
The four accused men — all on remand in prison except for Ali El Nasher — faced a virtual hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday where their lawyers contested some of the police’s evidence in the case.
Detective Senior Constable Craig Rooney, a ballistics crime scene examiner, told the court the shooting scene had been “preserved as best it could”.
Inside the foyer, Det Rooney described seeing blood, shattered glass and damaged memorabilia picture frames across the floor.
Fired cartridge cases — from two types of ammunition: .32 and .38 calibre — were also scattered in the room, he said.
A further eight cartridges — a mix of .22 and .25-calibre — were found outside the venue.
The court heard bullets were also found in vehicles parked in the area.
He could not say which direction the bullet came from that killed Mr Togiai.
He said some of the ammunition was found crushed or damaged.
Senior crime scene examiner Rebecca Robinson agreed with top barrister Robert Richter, representing Abdullah El Nasher, it was “possible” police vehicles had run over them.
“There were a lot of members at the scene when we arrived,” Leading Senior Constable Robinson said.
Mr Richter said one officer had claimed in their statement how a bullet had become lodged in their shoe and moved around the crime scene.
Police allege the four accused men were at the Big Time Boxing event together, when they became involved in verbal altercations with Mr Bchinnati, Mr Togiai and Mr Abouchaya who were sitting at a nearby table.
All the men were then ejected from the stadium, where guns were allegedly drawn.
Abdullah El Nasher and Mr Allouche are accused of murdering Mr Togiai, and attempting to kill Mr Bchinnati by shooting him in the leg outside of the venue.
As their associate, Mr Abouchaya retreated inside the pavilion, he was allegedly shot multiple times by Mr Myko in the foyer.
Ali El Nasher was then allegedly caught on CCTV running in and stomping on Mr Abouchaya’s head as he lay defenceless on the ground.
Magistrate Michelle Hodgson is tasked with determining if there is sufficient evidence to commit the four men to stand trial.
The hearing continues on Tuesday.
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