For more information please click here. It is a thirteen-part series loosely based on real events that stemmed from the mile-long nightclub/ red light district in the Sydney suburb of Kings Cross, also known as the "Golden Mile", between 1988 and 1999. Soon after that, Karam was killed by his own gang members. Sydney was founded by criminals who for years formed a majority of its population. ST. LOUIS-On the heels of one of the most deadly years for traffic in the history of the city of St. Louis and a weekend that saw five people killed in a pair of traffic accidents, Mayor Tishaura Jones on Wednesday signed a board bill that commits to spending at least $40 million in federal funds on traffic calming and street redesign measures. John Agius, counsel assisting the inquiry, went so far as to allege that John was the new driving force of the Kings Cross drug trade. 'They did, however, break more laws than any of my friends outside the force.'. Wrongfully jailed for two weeks in 2012 when authorities mistakenly believed he breached parole by travelling to north Queensland. Staunton writes of helping solve problems for drug dealers Bill Bayeh, who distributed cocaine and heroin in Kings Cross, and international trafficker Bruce 'Snapper' Cornwell. I'd know the stakes and reaped the rewards. Id like to think (Im a good judge of character) but then everybody thinks they know something about something. 'I just wanted to get straight into it. A telescope is trained on the water. The comments below have not been moderated, By He extended his criminal activities and eventually became known as the Lebanese godfather. What they do for their living and what they do for their business is none of my business. The view from Johns Dover Heights home is breathtaking. My brother Sam and I have always been pretty healthy. Who can deny that his life is often stranger than fiction? The years have taken a toll on Bill Bayeh. Everybody knows everybody. You cant not be there and see whats going on. The relationship with Bill Bayeh was severed on the day John appeared before the Commission and heard a conversation between supergrass Trevor Haken and Bayeh, taped at Birkenhead Point Tavern in December 1994. The expansion of the Bayeh drug empire led to a push to remove small drug dealers off the streets. Bayeh, who now lives in the Sydney CBD with his 35-year-old fiance Leyla Yavuz, wants it known that he has no grudge against the two men mainly responsible for his very public demise and eventual jailing, Royal Commissioner James Wood and Council Assisting the Royal Commission John Agius. Dennis Kelly fights off competition from Gerry lloyd and Sid Hillier for the role of Police Commissioner. Youve got to know whats happening. 'The corrections staff had no idea at all, not a clue, and the frustrations of many a long-serving inmate were relieved.'. After a shooting in a cafe, Trevor strikes a deal with Bill Bayeh to control police raids and competition in King's Cross - Bayeh gets the "Green light" from Trevor to sell drugs, providing he does not sell to minors and there are no more drug-related shootings in the Cross. He asked them to force out smaller operators, including Sam Ibrahim and Russell Townsend, although it is unclear exactly how much of a role the police played in this. But I still go home once a week to have a cup of tea with my mum, he says. More than once he was cut by the teachers cane. 'Before I'd taken the job with Bram, I'd investigated the possible penalties,' he writes. Mr Ibrahim also alleges Mr Domican opened his coat to display his gun while telling associates he would "take care" of a rival drug dealer on a Saturday night in 1993. Thats the business were in. Police were surprised to hear Bayeh was going back into business in the Cross. During the hearing, counsel for the Commissioner, Christopher Lonergan, referred to a pre-release report by Bayeh's probation and parole officer. On Wednesday, Mayor Tishaura Jones signed the St. Louis Safer Street bill (BB120), utilizing $40 . Ten years ago Kings Cross was the only suburb open late. The 60-year-old is the 'good bloke' of the title and says he lives by two simple rules: Loyalty is everything, and what is morally right and what is legal are not always the same thing. Stephen Gibbs for Daily Mail Australia, The Good Bloke by Charles Staunton is published by Pan Macmillan and is available from Tuesday, July 23, for $32.99. But eventually he saw the writing on the wall, pleading guilty in November 1998 to charges of conspiring to supply commercial quantities of heroin and cocaine between December 1, 1995, and July 24, 1996. In 1987 Hakim was gaoled for six and a half years for his involvement in bribing Corrective Services Minister Rex Jackson to release prisoners early. New South Wales Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham opposed Bayeh's parole, saying he was just presenting a facade as a naive man. I bumped into them on the street and we shook hands, he said with a smile. Bayeh's method was simple. A few blocks north on Natural Bridge, a corridor that was the scene of multiple high-speed fatalities in recent years has seen speeds reduced by 9 miles an hour, Jones said citing Missouri Department of Transportation data and noting that more data was needed to see established trends. February 24 2023, 9:21 a.m. St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones . He bought a delicatessen in Cleveland Street Redfern, close to the headquarters of the Gaming Squad and became a Justice of the Peace. In Kings Cross because there were so many people there was a bigger majority. Danny Karam, a nightclub bouncer who later became one of Bayeh's standover men, remembered that Bayeh was so broke in 1991 he was forced to ask him for $50. Mr Agius persisted: Isnt it the case that you and your brother have filled the gap to the extent to which Mr Bill Bayehs industry has contracted?. John has only been to his parents country of birth, Lebanon, once. Premier vows to raise standards of states pollies, Liberals used Daley video to their advantage. Thats always kept me out of trouble the majority of the time.. Bill Bayeh leaving the Wood Royal Commission after his arrest for supplying drugs.Credit:Nick Moir. He paid police to protect at least 24 gaming clubs and often entertained police officers. In 1999 Bayeh was the subject of an attempted assassination outside a restaurant in Narwee. Instead of learning how to read books, youve got learn how to read people and see what they want from you. ''It is not every day the Serious Offenders Review Council recommends that the parole authority consider the release of a serious offender at the first eligible date,'' he said. And when he speaks, the people around him listen. Sydneys very small. Soon, Kassab becomes Bayeh's "fall guy", holding the money and drugs from Bill's deals. Kanaan received life sentences for three murders. The inmate who took his place was severely bashed by three other prisoners because Staunton's name card had been left on the outer door. In 1988, a young, skinny boy named John Ibrahim from the outer-suburbs arrives in King's Cross to seek his fortune after being expelled from school, which results in a chance meeting with Sydney crime boss George Freeman. From the Earl Place door to the Tunnel nightclub John can wave at the Kings Cross detectives. The Kings Cross detectives get into a confrontation with some thugs and illegally rough them up. Its a remarkable return to form for the Golden Mile, now run by Bayehs former driver John Ibrahim. They split and she lives overseas, although he still wears her ring on his wedding finger. Here is an entire list of people with the Last Name El undefined. 'I'd weighed my options and taken the risk. Egan and Haken organise a deal with Kassab that if Shaka and Norm turn themselves in at the Bankstown Police Station, they will get off lightly. The balcony gives way to a vista encompassing Sydney Heads and a massive expanse of deep blue ocean. When gang violence breaks out in King's Cross, John Ibrahim is placed under pressure to clean up the streets. In the mid-1960s he obtained the protection of Lennie McPherson and proceeded to provide protection himself to Lebanese and other ethnic gaming clubs. Not long afterwards John dropped out of school. After spending the previous night watching videos with friends, John is in a buoyant mood. Theyve got everything you and I have.. I knew I wanted to be in the nightclub and restaurant industry.. ELECTION WRAP. I knew them all and they wouldnt have been standing over my business. Friends are very overrated, he says, taking a long gulp of his coffee. "The fatal flaw in this legislation is that it disenfranchises voters in St. Louis," Hudson said. With a wife and young family to support Staunton soon found work on the door at Baron's, an all-night bar and restaurant in Kings Cross. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Some nights John goes fishing off the rocks. Bayeh pleaded guilty in March in the Downing Centre Local Court to one count of common assault over the February 2015 incident, allowing the full facts in the case to be revealed for the first time, and he appeared back in court Thursday for sentencing. It primarily depicts the organized crimes in Kings Cross and the police corruption leading up to the 1995 Wood Royal Commission. Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. Their building also backs onto the street. "It is to be inferred that [Mr Domican] had been retained by Louis Bayeh to intimidate [Ibrahim] in order to protect Mr Bayeh's share of the protection market in Kings Cross," documents filed by lawyers for Mr Ibrahim claim. If you dont own a business there (Kings Cross) you could not understand how much its affected it, he says. While at John Morony jail near Windsor Staunton and another inmate used their music industry contacts to organise a concert for the prisoners. All around the world, first and second generation immigrants often form a higher proportion of criminals than of the general population. Believe it or not I did very well at school but it just wasnt for me. In the TAB John is asking around after his friend when he gestures to a tall skinny man and says quietly: The worst thing you can be in the Cross is a KX (a protected Commission witness) because everyone knows who you are.. It would allow the governor to appoint "a special . Under the bond for the Ms Nesbitt incident, Bayeh must continue psychological treatment for a year, Magistrate Graeme Curran told Downing Centre Local Court, noting both matters were at the lower end of seriousness. His garage houses two jet skis. Now though, his focus is firmly on Love Machine and the entertainment game. Theyre only people. Bayehs business partner and the venues licensee Tania Eve, who he has known for more than 30 years, was equally as vigilant on illegal behaviour, describing Love Machine as a cabaret and burlesque gentlemans club. John was 19 when he became part-owner of the Tunnel but he had already armed himself with a formidable collection of contacts and friends. This had hardly ever happened before there was an unwritten law among Sydneys criminals that family was to be kept out of business disputes. We used to do taekwondo together. We will abide by every single rule here and will be running a 100 per cent clean establishment, he said. Tanned, fit and small in stature, John has full lips, sleepy eyes and a subtly engaging persona. Bayeh, 56, was allegedly involved in an argument with Mr Edelsten's ex-wife Leanne Nesbitt, who is a nurse at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney. I came in there and cut it all out. Ms Nesbitt said nothing as Bayeh, now 57, greeted her from his outdoor table at the Five Boroughs coffee shop on Darlinghurst Road. As a young constable Charlie Staunton dreamed of one day becoming commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force. Once I was in, the club paid for itself. Missouri's governor would once again have control over St. Louis police under a bill advancing in the state House. BACK in 1995, John Ibrahim was a brash young nightclub owner who had just come to the attention of the media when he was called before the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service. Sometimes when we finish work at three or four in the morning and weve still got too much energy to burn we bring a change of clothes, get changed and we come down to the gym and have a workout, he says. Johns club The Tunnel is still in chaos after more than a month of renovations but he remains optimistic. 6.9K views, 21 likes, 1 loves, 10 comments, 12 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from 7NEWS Sydney: Former Kings Cross kingpin Bill Bayeh has been charged. Mr Ibrahim alleges Mr Domican has a reputation among "members of the Australian general public over the age of 35", NSW Police and the legal community, the building industry, and the pubs and clubs industry as a violent criminal, a standover man, and an associate of underworld figures. I want to move on with my life. People think police are machines. Like a trash TV junkie he watches the commission on television at every opportunity. I learned how to read, I learned how to write. Learn More. ST. LOUIS (KMOV) - St. Louis City SC spent Wednesday afternoon packing up more than 1,600 meals for Operation Food Search. Narrowly escaping a shooting in Bayeh's gaming room, John receives some advice from George Freeman. One of the tensest moments of the hearing came when Redditt Hudson, a former St. Louis police officer working on diversion and alternative sentencing in Gardner's office, repeated accusations that the bill is a racist attack. Kim Hollingsworth organises a strip show for a police charity. Bayeh was a major player in the Kings Cross drugs scene during the 1990s. FORMER Kings Cross identity Bill Bayeh has been given a bond for making a threat involving a sex toy to Geoffrey Edelstens ex-wife during an ugly verbal spat recorded on a smart phone. He was recorded instructing one of his standover men to tell a fellow drug dealer, Russell Townsend, that he ''cannot sell the nose thing any more and if he will not he will get a beating'' and warning another that there would be ''big bang bang soon''. Staunton was again brought unstuck by an undercover cop and was arrested in January 1997 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Like most organised criminals in the modern era, they focussed on selling drugs, although standing over other drug dealers and car re-birthing were also popular. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Erin Molan defamation claim back in court, Bombshell for MP accused of child sex abuse. But now Bill Bayeh - whose 15-year stretch behind bars may end within weeks - could be banned from setting foot on Sydney's Golden Mile. If they dont salute, they are a bastard they no good soldier at all. 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