(video) — A man who helped cover up the gangland execution of Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi outside a Sydney gym has been described as “no better” than the man who pulled the trigger – but could be released from jail next year.
Ahmad “Adam” Doudar admitted to hiding a silver Toyota Aurion used as one of two getaway cars to flee the hit on February 15, 2018 out of “misguided loyalty” to his friend the masked gunman.
The brazen broad daylight shooting of Hawi, 37, once the national president of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang, rocked Sydney and its criminal underworld.
Hawi was shot in a hail of bullets by a balaclava-clad executioner as he sat in his Mercedes four-wheel-drive after completing one of his regular gym session at Fitness First Rockdale.
He died in St George Hospital after being shot multiple times in the head, face and shoulder.
Facing up to 25 years behind bars, Doudar, 40, was on Thursday sentenced to a minimum of three years and four months prison after being convicted of being an accessory after the fact to murder.
Justice Robert Hulme told the Supreme Court the Lone Wolf bikie had shown “no remorse” for his role in the murder, which he described as “no better” than the man who carried out the hit.
“The murder itself was horrifying. It was a dangerous and violent public execution,” he said. “Mr Doudar knew this.
“He shared their arrogant and immoral belief that they had an entitlement to extinguish the life of another person.”
According to a statement of agreed facts, Doudar was seen leaving his luxury apartment in Macquarie St with the shooter – named in court as Yusuf Nazlioglu – on February 17, 2018, before they travelled together to a safe house in Bexley, where the car had been stashed.
Mr Nazlioglu, 39, was found not guilty of murder at trial last week following a lengthy trial.
The facts state they and another man, Mustafa Salami, loaded it onto a two truck before it was ferried to Botany St in Rosebery.
When police discovered the Toyota on March 16, 2018, officers found a black balaclava in the front passenger side footwell and gunshot powder matching that from the scene of Hawi’s death.
Mr Salami had also faced an accessory to murder charge, which was withdrawn in July.
The court heard on Thursday that Doudar claimed in a statement he helped Mr Nazlioglu not “for personal gain but for a misguided sense of loyalty”.
Justice Hulme said he did not accept that, saying it appeared the father was motivated to “assist a vicious and cold-blooded killer to avoid justice”.
He sentenced the already convicted criminal to a maximum of four years and six months in jail, backdated to his arrest in August 2018, setting a non-parole period that will expire in December 2021.
“His plea indicated he knew … his friend Yusuf Nazlioglu was the brazen and brutal executioner,” he said. “Murders like this do not happen by chance. They require the involvement of multiple people.”
Agreed facts signed by Doudar also state Jamal Eljaidi was the getaway driver on the day of Mr Hawi’s murder.
Doudar’s sentence came a week after Mr Nazlioglu, and Mr Eljaidi, 32, were found not guilty at trial for their alleged roles in the shooting.
They were both acquitted on September 10 after a jury rejected the Crown’s case against them.
