Police drop Yasir Al Qassim attempted murder charges after boxer shot at funeral
Police have dropped serious charges against a Melbourne teenager initially charged over the attempted murder of Sam Abulrahim.
Prosecutors have dropped a swathe of charges against a teenager police initially alleged was involved in the attempted murder of former underworld figure Sam ‘The Punisher’ Abdulrahim.
Yasir Al Qassim, 19, pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to four offences - theft of a car, arson, possessing a gun and driving unlicensed.
But the previous six charges, the most serious of which was the alleged attempted murder of Abdulrahim, have been shelved, and the Epping teenager is set to walk free from Port Phillip Prison after 304 days.
Abdulrahim was shot multiple times in the chest on June 25 last year and was rushed to hospital in a critical condition, but has since made a remarkable recovery.
The undefeated professional boxer was leaving the Fawkner Cemetery on Box Forest Rd, in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, in his Mercedes Benz four-wheel-drive when a car pulled up next to his and sprayed him with bullets.
Abdulrahim was hit five times.
A police summary released by the court last year alleged two men - referred to as Offender 1 and Offender 2 - fired the shots from a stolen grey Mazda, which they crashed moments later when fleeing.
The two offenders then carjacked a black Ford Territory, which was later found burnt-out in Epping, the summary alleged.
On Thursday, the day in which Al Qassim’s committal hearing was meant to proceed with witnesses giving evidence, defence barrister Peter Morrissey SC told the court that they were seeking to have the matter stood down with the intention of resolving the charges.
When the court re-convened after lunch, it was told this had been the case.
Prosecutor Grant Hayward said on June 15, 10 days before Abdulrahim was shot, Al Qassim bought two fuel containers from Bunnings in anticipation of an arson.
After the shooting, in which it is not alleged Al Qassim had any involvement, the fuel containers purchased at Bunnings were used to set a Ford Territory on fire, Mr Hawyard said.
Al Qassim admitted to taking part in the arson, but it was not alleged he was aware the Ford Territory had been carjacked, the court was told.
He also pleaded guilty to possessing a shotgun, which the court heard was hidden in the rubble of a building site.
Mr Morrissey told the court that until the age of 18 Al Qassim had been a “decent kid.”
“He’s not a patched member of some gang or anything like that,” he said.
Magistrate Kieran Gilligan said the more than 300 days Al Qassim had spent in prison was a “sufficient and just punishment” for what he pleaded guilty to on Thursday,
“I expect that would have been a sobering experience,” he said.
The defence was unsuccessful in its submission that Al Qassim should also undergo a Community Corrections Order (CCO).