VIC:Chaouk father shot dead=2

AAP General News (Australia)
08-13-2010
VIC:Chaouk father shot dead=2

One of Chaouk's five sons, Mohamed, was shot dead by a police officer during a raid
at the same home in 2005.

The house was raided again in July this year by police who seized guns, ammunition
and blank passports and arrested Chaouk and his sons Omar and Waleed.

The raid followed a drive-by shooting in June in nearby Altona, in which Sam Haddara,
18, was shot in the face while sitting in a car.

Sam is a cousin of Mohamed Haddara, who was killed a year earlier in a drive-by shooting,
and there have been a series of alleged tit-for-tat violent incidents between the families
since.

Sam Haddara survived the shooting but required extensive surgery.

Chaouk's nephew Ahmed Hablas, 22, was charged in June with Haddara's murder.

Hablas' lawyer Alan Swanwick said his client feared for his life in custody as members
of the Haddara family had vowed to take revenge.

Mr Swanwick also represented Omar Chaouk in his bail hearing last month when he argued
his client should be released because he was needed to help protect his family.

Magistrate Fiona Stewart said at the time that was precisely why he should not be released
on bail.

"I'm gravely concerned about Mr Swanwick's submission that he (Chaouk) is needed to
help his family, which is under siege," she told the court.

"There is an ongoing war between two families and the court should be extremely worried
about the danger posed to the community by it."

After last month's raid, Superintendent Doug Fryer said that despite the violence between
the rival groups, police believed they were controlling the situation.

"We would like to send a clear message to any of those involved in this sort of activity
that certainly any sort of shooting is absolutely unacceptable and we have the resources
and the capacity to make a difference and solve those crimes," he said at the time.

Mr Chaouk and Waleed were released without charge following the July 1 raid and Omar
was eventually bailed on July 12, but was banned from visiting the family home.

Chaouk's brother Matwali, 26, who is in custody on a separate matter, signed a statement
saying the guns found at the house belonged to him, the Melbourne Magistrates Court heard.

Another brother, Ali Chaouk, was last month refused bail over a brutal bashing which
left a German tourist with a fractured skull.

Macchour Chaouk came to Australia from Lebanon in 1969 and moved to Brooklyn in 1974.

He was charged with assault in 1975 and in 1983 was convicted of trafficking heroin.

In 1985, he was charged with assaulting police and in 1991 of recklessly causing serious injury.

In 2000, he was sentenced to five years in prison for trafficking in heroin.

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KEYWORD: CHAOUK 2ND UPDATE 2 MELB

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