Wheelchair man on three kill charges
Jason...@virgin.net
Wheelchair man on three kill charges
By LES KENNEDY, GREG BEARUP and ELLEN CONNOLLY
A man in a wheelchair, wrists and ankles manacled with a heavy chain
connected to a leather belt around his waist, and six officers
surrounding him, faced Central Local Court yesterday charged with three
murders and last year's drive-by shooting at Lakemba police station. The
charging of Michael Kanaan, 24, followed a day of raids by 150 police,
including detectives from two organised crime strike forces set up to
investigate four murders and up to 20 drive-by shootings and woundings
in Sydney since March last year.
By yesterday afternoon eight men and a teenage boy had appeared before
Bankstown and Central local courts following raids on 10 premises in the
south-western suburbs. Four of them were brought from prisons, where
they were on remand for other matters.
The Police Commissioner, Mr Peter Ryan, said the streets of Sydney were
"significantly safer" as a result of the arrests.
Kanaan, of Belfield, was to have faced Downing Centre Local Court
yesterday for the start of a committal hearing for the attempted murder
of two police officers in a shoot-out near the White City tennis complex
at Rushcutters Bay on December 23 last year, when he was shot five
times. But instead, the unemployed man was taken from his cell at the
Metropolitan Remand Centre to the Sydney Police Centre and charged with
the December 13 ambush murder of drugs boss Danny Karam, 36, at Surry
Hills. Kanaan was also charged with the July 17, 1998, shooting murders
of friends Adam Wright, 23, a former South Sydney rugby league player,
and Michael Hurle, 24, and wounding of Ronald Singleton, 38, outside the
Five Dock Hotel.
He was also charged with five counts of shooting with intent to cause
grievous bodily harm to officers at Lakemba police station in a drive-by
attack on November 1, and with discharging a firearm in a public place.
Kanaan was also charged with discharging a firearm in drive-by attacks
on the EP1 nightclub at Kings Cross on September 11 last year and in
Eveleigh Street, Redfern, on November 11. At Central Local Court, where
Kanaan was remanded to reappear on October 14, three others appeared.
They were Rabeeh Mawa, 22, of Hoxton Park, charged with the Karam murder
and the shooting attack on the EP1 nightclub; Wasim El-Asaad, 22, also
charged with the Karam murder, and gun attacks on the Lakemba police
station, EP1 and in Eveleigh Street.
Both were remanded in custody to reappear next Friday. Saleh Jamal, 24,
clutched the Koran and did not seek bail when he appeared charged with
stealing a motor vehicle and shooting with intent to cause grievous
bodily harm over the Lakemba police station drive-by. He will face court
again on October 14.
Appearing at Bankstown Court were Shadi Derbis, 26, of Punchbowl,
Mohammed Rustom, 21, of Ashcroft, Mohommed Dib, 21, of Punchbowl, and
Bassam Kazzi, 26, of Punchbowl. Police alleged that between 8pm and 9pm
on July 17, Kanaan, Derbis and Kazzi and two others went in a red
Mitsubishi to Five Dock. When passing the Five Dock Hotel they saw
Wright, Hurle and Singleton outside about to have a fight. After egging
the men on, Kanaan and the others became involved in the fight, during
which Kanaan allegedly pulled out a pistol. "Kanaan grabbed him [Hurle]
by the throat and fired a single shot into his head and threw the body
to the ground," the facts sheet said.
He then shot Wright and Singleton before fleeing.
Mr Ryan praised his officers' efforts yesterday and said police were
seeking others in relation to 13 other shooting incidents.
"We will not have police intimidated in any way by criminals of this
nature."
Streets of fear: 15 months of violence
June 17, 1998: Policeman survives gun attack by one of three men after
he stops their stolen car at Condell Park for a routine traffic
infringement.
July 17: Friends Adam Wright, 23, and Michael Hurle, 24, are shot dead
in an attack outside the crowded Five Dock Hotel in which another
friend, Ronald Singleton, 38, is also wounded. Police said a man got out
of a stolen station wagon and sprayed the three with bullets.
September 11: Two cars containing gunmen open fire on the EP1 nightclub
in Earl Place, Kings Cross, in a drive-by shooting in which 50 shots are
fired.
October 11:Man shot in legs by two men brandishing pistols in Greenacre.
October 12: Man suffers multiple bullet wounds to both legs in Parry
Park, Greenacre.
October 17: Campsie schoolboy Edward Lee, 14, stabbed to death by gang
in Telopea Street, Punchbowl, when he went to the wrong address with
mates to attend a birthday party. As his friends rush him to hospital in
a car, shots are fired at their vehicle.
October 20: Bankstown police receives threat over police radio network
that a police station will be bombed in the district.
November 1: Lakemba police station is sprayed with 16 rounds in a
drive-by shooting.
November 11: Three to four men drive through Eveleigh Street, Redfern,
blasting away indiscriminately, hitting 15 homes.
November 27: Man, 24, blasted in the leg with a handgun at 1.30pm
outside a panelbeater's shop in Bankstown.
November 29: 18-year-old Wiley Park man is taken by a group of men into
a lane and shot in the legs.
December 9: Teenager kneecapped in Riverwood.
December 13: Kings Cross drug boss and enforcer Danny Karam, 36, shot
dead in his car in Surry Hills. He is shot 16 times.
December 31: Gunmen fire about 20 shots at home in Greenacre.
January 17, 1999: Man shot in left buttock at house in Lakemba.
March 3: Five men in a stolen car fire shots into a house in Lakemba.
March 28: Man shot in groin while walking in Parry Park, Punchbowl.