Victoria Police knew about party violence threat

Victoria Police has admitted it was aware that a party featuring African-­Australian rappers posed a serious law-and-order risk.

Murdered Melbourne ­student Laa Chol.

Victoria Police has admitted it was aware that a music label launch party featuring ­African-­Australian rappers posed a serious law-and-order risk, yet allowed it to proceed after a ­publicly funded legal service ­became involved.

The admission, which came as an 18-year-old man mowed down by a car during the Melbourne brawl had his leg amputated, contradicted police claims a day earlier that there was no intelligence to suggest the party was high risk.

The teenager, named last night as David Bilal and now fighting for his life in The Alfred hospital, is a witness to the ­recent murder of Melbourne ­student Laa Chol, who was stabbed at a party in Melbourne’s CBD in July. One of the acts at the launch — after which six other people were hospitalised — reportedly performed a tribute song in Chol’s honour.

Deputy police commissioner Bob Hill denied the murder of Ms Chol and the brawl on the weekend were linked, and said there was no information to suggest the Collingwood incident, which involved up to 200 people, mostly young men of ­African and Pacific Islander backgrounds, was a ­revenge attack.

As police were forced to ­defend their response to the brawl that broke out after the 66Records label launch at the Gasometer hotel in Collingwood early on Sunday, it emerged that concerns had been flagged weeks earlier.

According to police, organisers opted to go ahead regardless, following meetings with liquor-licensing officers, the venue, the record label and the Fitzroy Legal Service.

Mr Hill confirmed police had advised that the $10-a-head party should not proceed.

“Certainly (66Records) is … a group we’ve been well and truly aware of and been monitoring,” he said. “Victoria Police were aware that we were having ­people participating or attending the event that were known to us, that were known to have a criminal history that presented a risk should that event proceed.”

Police have so far arrested an 18-year-old man from outer suburban Cranbourne, but he was released pending further inquiries.

Scott Morrison yesterday weighed in with concerns over the state’s African youth crime crisis, calling for police to adopt a tougher approach. “This is a law-and-order problem,” the Prime Minister told radio 3AW.

He said Victoria Police should follow the example of former NSW police chief ­Andrew Scipione and put the “force” back in the police force. “When you don’t have that control or rule of law imposed, people will take advantage of it. Law and order means something in NSW … in my home city, we have a police force that is a force,’’ he said.

“We have the highest proportion of Sudanese population in NSW (but) we don’t have these problems, they are not happening in other cities. Why are they happening in Melbourne?”

Police association boss Wayne Gatt said there were questions that needed to be answered, after he was told by police officers on the ground that requests to police command for additional staff on the night had been rejected.

“It had all the hallmarks of a brawl waiting to happen,” Mr Gatt said. “(The extra resources) certainly weren’t dedicated to that venue, I understand that they were sharing another nine high-risk events that night.”

Mr Hill denied police had ­refused resources or were ill-­prepared. He said police had conducted several patrols in and around the venue throughout the night and were at the scene within ­moments of a report of a car ­collision.

“To suggest that Victoria Police was not prepared for this event, to suggest that our ­rostering was not adequate, to suggest that we’ve got a no-arrest policy is absolute nonsense,” Mr Hill said.

“We’ve got police confronted by 200 people brawling in the street. If we start thinking about what that could result in if we started grabbing people without some sort of co-ordinated ­approach it poses a risk.”

Mr Hill conceded that “we wouldn’t be having this conversation if we did have multiple arrests on the weekend”.

“The fact remains we didn’t. What’s the preferred option? … Yeah, we arrest people, but again, I’m not going to judge the tactical commander and the police on the ground because they do a great job,” he said.

The 66Records label is registered to Abraham Poni of Collingwood, and promotes hip-hop music, mostly artists from ­African-Australian backgrounds. Event host and rapper J-Nelly did not respond to requests for comment yesterday, but had warned attendees against violence.

“Violence will not be tolerated,” he wrote on Facebook. “We had meeting with detectives who are very concerned with the ­energy, which they have related to the latest sparks of new reports degrading the African community as thugs etc.”

The Australian does not suggest Mr Poni, J-Nelly or others ­associated with the label or the launch have criminal records. Both men were contacted for comment but did not respond.

Gasometer hotel owners Shannon Vanvderwert and Clint Fisher did not comment about police claims yesterday.

In a statement posted on the hotel’s website, they distanced themselves from the incident and said they were co-operating with the police investigation.

Fitzroy Legal Service executive officer Claudia Fontaine confirmed that the organisation had helped 66Records organise a meeting with police, but that no legal advice was provided.

Last night, the father of one of the teenagers injured in the brawl called for the violence to stop.

“It’s a parent’s worst nightmare, you know what I mean. It was Father’s Day and the last thing you want is to go and check out if your son is alive or not,” he told Channel 9.

“This madness has to stop.”