‘I would have been in jail or dead’: Bra Boys gang member and surfer Koby Abberton’s new life

EXCLUSIVE: How actor, surfer and Bra Boys gang leader Koby Abberton has turned from a violent past to love Islam.

Surfer and Bra Boy member Koby Abberton says meeting his fiancee, Ukrainian model Olya Nechiporenko, is the “best thing that ever happened to me”.

BRA Boys gang leader and international surfer Koby Abberton is full of love for his brand new life, but he knows how close it came to being all over.

The big wave surfer and actor, who now calls Islam “a beautiful and peaceful religion” and rejects Pauline Hanson as “a loser who promotes politics based on fear, has turned around his violent past”.

But he acknowledges that surfing saved him from a life in prison, or an early death.

“I’d be in jail or I’d be dead. I didn’t grow up the best and then my brother Sunny got me into surfing and I made a lot of money, but then I lost it all,” he told news.com.au in an exclusive interview.

“I owe everything to surfing, but then when they charged my brother [Jai, with the murder of Sydney standover man Tony Hines] they froze all I had and I lost everything.

“But now everything is great and I have never been so happy. I just want to help young people combat all the negativity and depression and the hate on social media.

Koby Abberton (left) with Russell Crowe and brother Sunny Abberton (right) at the premiere of Crowe’s award-winning documentary “Bra Boys”.

Surfer and Bra Boy Koby Abberton pictured with his former girlfriend, model Tahyna Tozzi.

Koby Abberton taught socialite Paris Hilton how to surf at Mailbu Beach. Picture: Big Australia/Mike Emory & Andy Athenios

“Around the world there’s world war three going on except no-one acknowledges it, but in Australia we live in the best country.

“We are so free as humans in Australia and yet to get these losers like Pauline Hanson promoting hate and promoting voting out of fear.”

Just under 10 years ago, the story of the Koby Abberton and his brothers Sunny and Jai made international headlines.

The story of the sons of a heroin-addicted mother who grew up in public housing but went on to international surfing fame and fortune and then lost it all, was captured in a Russell Crowe film.

The award-winning Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water, focuses on the trials of Jai and Koby Abberton in relation to the murder of violent extortionist Anthony Gerard Hines.

Murder victim Tony Hines, pictured in prison in 1994, who was shot in the head and thrown off a cliff Maroubra in Sydney by Bra Boy Jai Abberton.

Koby Abberton was given a suspended sentence for perverting the course of justice over the murder of Tony Hines. Picture: Facebook/Koby Abberton

Hines was a member of the Abberton’s Bra Boys surf gang, at their home beach Maroubra in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

The territorial group, whose members sport the gang tattoo “My Brother’s Keeper” across their shoulders, has been linked in the past to violence, drugs and unrest at Maroubra following the 2005 Cronulla race riots

In 2003, Hines’ naked body was found at the base of cliffs in Maroubra and Jai Abberton admitted to police that he had shot him dead, in self-defence, after Hines tried to rape a girl.

Koby Abberton was charged with accessory to murder after the fact, hindering the police’s investigation and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Koby was given a nine-month suspended sentence on the last charge, and Jai was acquitted of murder.

Narrated by Crowe and featuring the Abberton brothers and prominent surfers like Mark Occhilupo, Wayne Bartholomew and 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, the film became Australia’s highest-grossing non-IMAX documentary in 2007.

Koby Abberton performs at Red Bull Cape Fear in June 2016. Picture: Matt Dunbar/Red Bull

Koby Abberton and Olya Nechiporenko have a one-year-old baby son named Makua, meaning “prince of the sea”. Picture: Instagram

The Abbertons created a clothing line called My Brothers Keeper, but of the three brothers only Koby continued to stay in the headlines.

He was photographed teaching American heiress Paris Hilton to surf and on the red carpet with his then girlfriend, Australian model Tahyna Tozzi.

In 2008, two years after he was declared bankrupt with debts to lawyers and the Australian Crime Commission, Koby Abberton spent three days in custody for assaulting an off-duty police officer in Honolulu.

After that, Koby went to live in Bali and dropped out of the news. He became close to jailed drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran before their 2015 executions.

“People make mistakes,” he said. “Myself, I’ve been involved in things and those guys were like normal human beings and they were good people.”

It was in Bali that Koby also met Olya Nechiporenko, a model, psychologist and accountant from the Ukraine.

Koby Abberton (centre) pictured with brothers Jai (left) and Sunny celebrate at the Maroubra Bay Hotel in Sydney after he received a suspended sentence for perverting the course of justice Picture: News Corp

An old family photo of the Abberton brothers, from left to right, Koby, Jai, Sunny and (front), their younger brother Dakota in the early days at Maroubra in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Koby Abberton and Ukrainian model and psychologist Olya Nechiporenko plan to marry and move to Bali and expand their family of three. Facebook/Olya Nechiporenko

“It totally changed my life,” he said. “It’s the best thing that ever happened to me. It was love at first sight, but also I credit all the love and compassion I have now to her.

“I’ve always been helpful and honest, but I wouldn’t be the man I am now helping out people and wanting the world to be right without her.”

The couple, who plan to marry soon, have a 12-month-old son Makua and Koby, has a new mission in life to change Australia, is about to leave his beloved Maroubra beach behind.

“And it’s interesting that from Maroubra, which was always very Australian, that my life has turned out to be so multicultural now.”

Koby revealed that his brother Jai, has converted to Islam and that both Jai and Sunny Abberton have indigenous Australian partners.

“Jai is going to the mosque and has just come through Ramadan,” he said.

“And with my fiancee coming from Ukraine as well, the Abbertons are changing who we are.”

He said it was wrong to connect the Bra Boys gang, which now numbers around 300 members, with anti Islamic views or racism.

Koby Abberton in action at the King of the Bra surfing competition at Maroubra Beach last year. Picture: Craig Wilson

Koby Abberton (second from the right) in the crowd at the 2015 The Bra Boys v Bondi Boardriders surf competition at Maroubra Beach in Sydney. Picture: Craig Wilson

Sunny (left) and Koby Abberton at Maroubra Beach, in Sydney in 2007 before the release of the Russell Crowe documentary about their lives and the Bra Boys surf gang. Picture: News Corp

“There were no Bra Boys at the Cronulla riots. Our creed stands for unconditional love, respect and support of those close to you regardless of race, gender and age,” he said.

“Islam is a beautiful and peaceful religion and 99 per cent of Muslims want peace.

“If you look at any group, the Bra Boys included, you are always going to find bad people among them.”

Koby is following elder brother Sunny to work in Western Australia as a fly-in fly-out miner and moving his young family to Bali.

“It’s only a three-hour flight from Perth to Denpasar and I want my fiancee to have a good life.”

Koby has been giving surf lessons ‘to help pay the rent, but all kids and anyone named Koby get free lessons’.

He doesn’t plan to abandon his mission helping a new suicide prevention network operated by his friend Matt Dee, who lost a brother and a sister to suicide.

Koby Abberton (centre) in 2007 with Bra Boys surf gang member Macario De Souza (left) and brother Sunny (right).

Koby Abberton showing the gang tattoo inked around the necks of Bra Boys gang members.

Koby Abberton, pictured being led out of court in Hawaii in 2008 after brawling with an off-duty police officer. Picture: AP/Jeff Mull.

“Why is there all this hate and negativity that kids are copping all the time through social media,” he said.

“We need to help people, ask them if they are okay and instead of seeing someone and then going and writing something nasty on Facebook, why not just go up and talk to them.

“If you’re afraid of them talk to them, find out who they are and what they’re about.

“Let’s turn social media into a force for good and stop the bullying.”

Koby, who recently surfed the giant waves during the huge seas of Sydney’s early June storms, says that while surfing saved his life after a neglected childhood, he had more recently reunited with his mother.

“I’ve never known my father. My mother didn’t even know who he was and there were the drugs and all, but she’s been a really good grandmother to my son and that’s great.”
Koby said he was using his Facebook pages to help teenagers survive bullying and depression.

“People are writing to me on Facebook, up to 10 a day saying they are thinking of taking their own life,” he said.

“It’s sad to see but if I can help stop kids and encourage them to get out of their rooms and go and jump into the surf, or go out with a skateboard, that’s good.

“Life can be a beautiful thing.”