Bill Bayeh leaving the Wood Royal Commission after his arrest for supplying drugs.Credit:Nick Moir. One night he found a naked woman on the meal room table performing a sex act on herself with a police baton while his fellow officers drank cans of beer. A cafe lifestyle by day and at night, entry into any Sydney club he chooses to visit. Bicycle guy is a True Blue Aussie! Parole authority orders he not gamble, or frequent the Kings Cross area. In the mid-1960s he obtained the protection of Lennie McPherson and proceeded to provide protection himself to Lebanese and other ethnic gaming clubs. While still in the force he met underworld figure Louis Bayeh, his brother Bill, a young John Ibrahim and his older sibling Sam - a 'fearless criminal'. He supplied the drugs to those working on the front desks of his businesses, who would sell them in return for a cut of the profits. Frank Hakim, who emigrated to Australia at the age of 20 or so, was the first prominent Lebanese criminal. 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. THE former wife of flamboyant doctor Geoffrey Edelsten had an epic run-in with a notorious Kings Cross identity. Ms Nesbitt feared for her safety and called police. Joe Dooley leaves the King's Cross police and enrolls at Goulburn Academy. ST. LOUIS - The city of St. Louis will invest more than $60 million to try to make streets and sidewalks safer. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. He describes winning almost $100,000 at Randwick one day and how he and Bill Bayeh turned over millions of dollars a year with a bookmaker. Pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply commercial quantities of cocaine and heroin in 1995 and 1996. He faced a parole board hearing for the first time today and the board heard Bayeh has been a model prisoner. It was a very different image of Bayeh from that of his heyday. Everywhere we go we know each other. While construction of those projects wont start until sometime in 2024, city officials confirmed that theyre separately looking at bringing back red light traffic camera enforcement in the nearer term and are in the early stages of exploring a non-police unit to address traffic enforcement. However, Haken and Egan, along with drug dealer Bill Bayeh, set up an elaborate "sting" for their own profit. SYDNEY nightclub owner John Ibrahim was very young when he gave this first revealing interview. Judge Christie noted the Commissioner's opposition, but said the Probation and Parole Service and the Serious Offenders Review Council supported Bayeh's release. Bill Bayeh - a major character in last year's Underbelly TV series - will start a new career as a fruit and vegetable seller. He took charge of $23million in Montreal and ferried $1million through Turkey into Pakistan wearing spray tan and a dark wig. John is reticent to discuss the fight that left him hospitalised for three months with a stab wound in the stomach. Bayeh is also keen to point out there will be a zero tolerance to drugs at the venue. Walks free from Silverwater prison after minimum 15-year term for drug trafficking expires in July 2011. Benny Kassab turns to Jim Egan and Trevor Haken for assistance in light of Shaka and Norm shooting at Louis Bayeh's house. What else am I going to do? he laughs. Released in 2011, Bayehs parole restrictions were such that he was not able to be in the vicinity of Kings Cross and other suburbs, including Woolloomooloo, for three years until restrictions were lifted on July 17, 2014. Please try again later. Corrupt King's Cross detectives Trevor Haken and Jim Egan go too far when arresting a pack of drunks, sparking calls for a royal commission into the NSW Police. Police were surprised to hear Bayeh was going back into business in the Cross. I bumped into them on the street and we shook hands, he said with a smile. The Independent Commission Against Corruption rejected the claim, and Bob Bottom pointed out at the time that the detectives accused by Hakim were in the vanguard of anti-corruption efforts. Get hyperlocal forecasts, radar and weather alerts. Asked if his brother would be able to stay out of trouble, he said ''of course''. The green tracksuited figure then stood, turned and was led back to his cell to serve the remaining 19 days before he was officially eligible for release. I couldnt wait to get out of there and get amongst it. Bill and Louis Bayeh fight off threats to their drug dealing empire. Aldermanic Board President Megan Green said traffic education and enforcement would be a priority for the next session of the Board when new members are seated after the April elections. He was once asked by a music industry friend to entertain Paul and Linda McCartney for a night at the Park Hyatt Hotel when the former Beatle and his then wife Linda wanted to meet 'real people'. Bram and Manfred had never told Staunton the details of their business but US and Canandian authorities alleged they had trafficked 25 tonnes of Pakistani hashish worth about $1billion. He bought a delicatessen in Cleveland Street Redfern, close to the headquarters of the Gaming Squad and became a Justice of the Peace. Bill Bayeh was jailed for 15 years for drug trafficking in the 1990s.Nick Moir 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. Theyre more important than money, John confides. I went back home for three days (last year) with Charlie Staunton. Closed for two months after a minor liquor licensing violation, John took the opportunity to put a fresh face on the club. Within a year the new leader, Michael Kanaan, and some 50 others associated with the gang had been arrested. 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. Their building also backs onto the street. John, it seems, is inclined to oversimplify the details of his existence. After leaving school John began working in Kings Cross at the Tunnel Cabaret nightclub. ', Long-time friend and former Kings Cross nightclub boss John Ibrahim sums up Staunton on the book's cover: 'When Charlie's good he's great. I've never hurt anyone.'. All times AEDT (GMT +11). 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. Forget Melrose Place, the Royal Commission is a better soapie, he grins. Download it here. Smalltime bouncer Benny Kassab has an audacious plan to become King of the Cross. Mayor Jones said the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department wrote more than 8,000 speeding tickets and 2,700 for signal violations, but said the city had to do more to hold reckless drivers accountable, which is why the city is looking to bring back red light cameras. In the course of them doing their job theyve got to stickybeak everywhere, he says. Tanned, fit and small in stature, John has full lips, sleepy eyes and a subtly engaging persona. He died in 2005, and over 400 people attended his funeral at Redfern. Called to give evidence about his relationship with police and criminals including Bayeh, Staunton refused to speak and was jailed for contempt. Parents in our city, like myself, are asking ourselves, how can we teach our teenagers how to drive in a city where the rules of the road can feel more like suggestions. Its a remarkable return to form for the Golden Mile, now run by Bayehs former driver John Ibrahim. St. Louis police gather at the scene of a shooting in the 1800 block of Cass Avenue on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, where police say a man was shot in the chest. Mr Ibrahim claims he took over the "business of protecting businesses" from the Bayehs, prompting the Cosmopolitan Cafe meeting at which Mr Domican was present. So it would seem, but no, I am not, came Johns cocky reply. Marks, known as 'Mr Nice', asked Staunton to join him at a table with Freddie Foreman, an old crook sometimes called the godfather of British crime. Running a club is perfect for that sort of thing, but its not for me. However, his paranoia is justified as he discovers the Commission has a lot of incriminating evidence against him. Upon his release Staunton was deportedand made his way to London. Bill Bayeh was jailed for 15 years for drug trafficking in the 1990s.Credit:Nick Moir. He extended his criminal activities and eventually became known as the Lebanese godfather. A friend embarks on a monologue about the imprudence of talking to the press and John quiets him with a simple Thatll do. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. He was arrested in 1996 after giving evidence at the Wood Royal Commission into police corruption. The parole authority believed Bayeh had served a lengthy prison sentence compared to other sentences for crimes of a similar nature. Between those opposite ends of the law Staunton found himself somewhere in the middle as a private investigator and problem-solver for Sydney's underworld. 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. Bananas, they go off very quick.. This had hardly ever happened before there was an unwritten law among Sydneys criminals that family was to be kept out of business disputes. 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. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. 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. Two video games stand idly on opposite sides of the room. He paid police to protect at least 24 gaming clubs and often entertained police officers. Benny Kassab, a nightclub bouncer, quells a street brawl and earns the attention of Bill Bayeh. Anything else was probably a waste of time. Not long afterwards John dropped out of school. However, after going on a scuba trip with Ibrahim, Wendy starts to have second thoughts. Ive never sold drugs. It was one of the first of what was to become a common form of violence and intimidation by Lebanese gangsters. During the hearing, counsel for the Commissioner, Christopher Lonergan, referred to a pre-release report by Bayeh's probation and parole officer. 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. On both levels of the house the curtains are drawn across the windows. An angry Kim Hollingsworth returns to Sydney from Adelaide, intending on suing the NSW Police. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. Staunton travelled to Atlantic City in 1989 as part of boxer Jeff 'Hitman' Harding's entourage when Harding defeated Dennis Andries for the WBC light heavyweight title. I deserve a second chance it is the Australian way.. It is a rental property, the owner a widow and friend of the family. More than once he was cut by the teachers cane. Wanting more from life than a nine to five job he joined the NSW Police Force in 1978 when he was 19. Were working to restore it. Once I was in, the club paid for itself. It is pretty interesting, especially given his history here.. We are not on the dole bludging, we want to do this right.. FORMER Kings Cross identity Bill Bayeh has been given a bond for making a threat involving a sex toy to Geoffrey Edelsten's ex-wife during an ugly verbal spat recorded on a smart phone. Of his now-shelved fruit shop plans, he said: It didnt happen. Louis Bayeh was himself sentenced in 1997 to four years jail for perverting the course of justice. His sentencing was adjourned so psychiatric evidence can be gathered. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. What they do for their living and what they do for their business is none of my business. Hakim got him a job as debt collector with Lennie McPherson, and Bayeh went on to open a gaming club at West Ryde with Hakims approval and then became a major standover man and Kings Cross drug dealer for many years. With another club in Surfers Paradise, also called The Tunnel, he wanted to free up his commitments in Sydney. 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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. Staunton was sentenced to nine and a half years and served three in Canadian prisons where French was spoken more widely than English. Instead of learning how to read books, youve got learn how to read people and see what they want from you. Commission investigator Gerry Lloyd hires Shaka, a former lieutenant to Benny Kassab, to wear a wire to expose the corrupt police working with Bill Bayeh. Clive Small and Tom Gilling note in their book Blood Money: Back in prison Bayeh sought special treatment due to the dozen or so medications he was taking for his heart, hypertension, claustrophobia, stomach problems, hernia, sleep apnoea, memory loss, and the stress he claimed to be suffering from the number of contracts said to be out on his life.. 'I'd weighed my options and taken the risk. 'You Australians are a hard lot,' Trump said to him. Good cops, bad cops, strippers, gamblers, gunmen, dealers, bouncers, dreamers and bagmen. To an outsider, the life of John Ibrahim is surreal. But when he's bad he's better!'. Hakim expanded his contacts among police and became a general intermediary between them and the underworld. But its not only police. Kim Hollingsworth organises a strip show for a police charity. Within a day of arriving in the city he found himself in the Ifield Hotel in Fulham where the first person he met was Howard Marks, one of the most notorious drug smugglers in the world. 'I do not have a thousand morals,' Staunton writes on page one of The Good Bloke. We will abide by every single rule here and will be running a 100 per cent clean establishment, he said. Traffic violence tears families and communities apart and to those who say that they feel scared on our roads: I hear you, Jones said. Staunton had witnessed police corruption since his earliest days on the force and it was internal treachery which brought his career undone one night in 1987. You cant not have a relationship with coppers and own a business. Debbie Webb joins the fraud squad, but is snubbed due to her whistleblower reputation. The comments below have not been moderated, By His friends (and there are many) call him the most wonderful person in the world. It took decades to build the infrastructure that we use every single day. I put everything we made back into the club. Spoils of crime Bayeh's Gladesville home. The sun is shining and John is sparkling with good humour. The city can now start the design work on the already-completed traffic studies, get that work done by the first quarter of 2024, with construction to follow. Wrongfully jailed for two weeks in 2012 when authorities mistakenly believed he breached parole by travelling to north Queensland. But on his release from prison his power was much weakened. All around the world, first and second generation immigrants often form a higher proportion of criminals than of the general population. It primarily depicts the organized crimes in Kings Cross and the police corruption leading up to the 1995 Wood Royal Commission. I dont believe in drugs, he says. MAIN SOURCE: Blood Money by Clive Small and Tom Gilling; The Prince and the Premier by David Hickie. Convicted cocaine dealer Bill Bayeh and his brother Louie are old friends of the family. Judge Terrance Christie says it was significant that the Serious Offenders Review Council supported Bayeh's release, and that it was not common for a first-time hearing. Later that year Detective Inspector Tony Lauer led a raid on Hakims Redfern office and found just over a gram of heroin on Hakims person. Staunton, who was in the Parramatta and NSW police rugby league teams, knew most of the Bandidos and some of the Comanchero from playing football against them. His rise from such depths was dramatic. It turned out McPherson already had a direct relationship with the club, and sent a group of men to throw the new machines into the street. 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. And when he speaks, the people around him listen. The wars over but the wars still inside the people. 'My life has been a bit more interesting than most,' Staunton writes. His only regret is the time he spent away from his two sons, Danial and Timothy. Many of those who came after Louis Bayeh did not last so long. We know that some of these education and enforcement mechanisms can be implemented sooner. I didnt want to be there at one stage.. ''It is clear from a number of remarks made by the sentencing judge that the sentence was intended to be punitive rather than rehabilitative,'' Judge Christie said. Thats always kept me out of trouble the majority of the time.. He hated it. Jones said the city was working on a plan that would safeguard the privacy of the images, address due process, and where they would be placed. Until last year he was involved with a girl whom he had been dating for 10 years. 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. THE former king of the Kings Cross strip has returned to what he knows best: The strip club business. 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