Latest news with #underworld
ABC News
15 hours ago
- ABC News
Man and teenager sentenced over roles in murders of gangster Salim Hamze and father
A man has been jailed and a teenage boy has been spared prison over their roles in the underworld murders of teenage gangster Salim Hamze and his innocent father Toufik four years ago. Suliman Hamza, now 23, was jailed for four years but with time served and a non-parole period he will be released in October. The boy, who was just 16 at the time, avoided a jail sentence but was handed a two-year intensive corrections order. Both pleaded guilty to being accessories after the fact to the two murders in the Downing Centre District Court. While the pair were not convicted of shooting the Hamzes, they admitted to being recruited to clean evidence from the getaway cars used by the killers. Their sentence hearing last week heard the pair left not only their own DNA after cleaning one of the vehicles, but that of the previous owner who the car was stolen from. Hamza and the boy's legal team argued they had no idea the cars were used to murder two people, describing them as "novices". The court heard Hamza had to Google what Windex was used for when tasked with wiping evidence from the getaway car. "I wouldn't employ them to clean my home," the boy's barrister said during last week's hearing. The Hamzes were gunned down in broad daylight getting into a red ute outside the Osgood Street, Guildford family home in October 2021. Their deaths came at the height of gangland hostilities between the rival Hamzy and Alameddine clans over the city's drug trade. The warring families run organised crime networks in Western Sydney, with their feud responsible for the deaths of seven people. Toufik Hamze, 64, was one of two innocent civilians to be killed as the tit-for-tat shootings played out on Sydney's streets over two years. Despite sharing the same last name, 18-year-old Salim Hamze was not a blood relative of the Hamzy family that earned public infamy through notorious crime boss Bassam Hamzy. Police believe Mr Hamze became a target after suspicions he was the gunman who killed rival drug dealer Shady Kanj a few months before he met his own end. The teenager is also suspected of being the gunman who shot a senior member of the Alameddine family, who survived the attack and is currently in jail. The man police believe shot the Hamzes was one the teen's best friends and fled overseas after allegedly shooting the father and son. Zaid Abdelhafez, 22, is wanted on a warrant for the murders and police have spent the past four years attempting to locate him. Alameddine family patriarch Rafat Alameddine and associate Ray Bayssari are also wanted on warrants for two counts of murder for allegedly organising the hit, but have fled to Lebanon.
Geek Girl Authority
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Girl Authority
Movie Review: OSIRIS
There's a lot to be said for nostalgia. With Osiris , writer and director William Kaufman and his team set out to transport audiences to the action-adventure sci-fi of the '80s and '90s. They ask the question, 'If aliens found and understood Voyager's Golden Record, would they come to Earth in peace?' Their answer is an emphatic 'NO.' Instead, the aliens take the message of Earth's diverse life and cultures as a 'come and get us' invitation. Osiris 's story begins when they abduct a Special Forces unit led by Max Martini's Kelly. When the unit is inexplicably released from their stasis gel on board the alien ship, the fight is on to survive and escape. Image Credit: Samuel Birdsong Osiris The film's title references the Egyptian god of the afterlife, the underworld, and the dead. He also symbolizes resurrection. Kelly and his team members are as good as dead after their abduction, but get an unexplained second chance at life. (Arguably, it's a third as they were about to call in a strike on their own site when the aliens abducted them.) RELATED: Movie Review: The Fantastic Four: First Steps It's a battle-heavy film, beginning with the unit mid-operation in a firefight with unspecified Middle Eastern-looking combatants in a decimated setting. With Martini, Michael Irby, and LaMonica Garrett making up half the team, they're leaning into authentic tactical tradecraft gleaned from their military training on CBS's The Unit and Paramount+'s Lioness. Image Credit: David R. Gaynes Once awake aboard the alien craft, it continues into a series of prolonged battle scenes, albeit in much tighter quarters. (It's not worth wondering whether or not it's smart to be shooting so many bullets aboard a spaceship.) Along the way, they come across Brianna Hildebrand's Ravi, who is less than forthcoming about their situation. Her fight face and skills quickly win their respect, if not their trust. The Sarah Connor Effect A lot of the film's pedigree as an alien-adversary-action-adventure rests on Linda Hamilton's involvement. Her character, Anya, a seasoned soldier and strategist, has spent decades evading the aliens on their own ship. Repeat: on their own ship . (That's not worth thinking too hard about either.) While she doesn't appear on-screen until nearly an hour into the film, she's quickly in charge of the unit. Or what's left of it at that point. Hamilton delivers a solid, if predictable, performance — strong, smart, takes no sh*t. RELATED: Superman Spoiler Review The Osiris creative team invested a great deal of energy and talent into the practical effects for the aliens and the combat scenes. It's hard to learn more about the aliens since only one character can understand their language. And that's a shame. Not that we need to empathize with the predators, but I would've liked to know what their take on the Golden Record's contents was. What made Earth sound appealing and worth the trip? On its most basic level, the plot may or may not have been inspired by the stinger scene in The Big Bang Theory Season 8 Episode 21, 'The Communication Deterioration,' but the added elements of the aliens' strategy for invasion and use of intermodal container shipping provide some interesting zest to the standard 'eat the people, take their stuff' playbook. With the final scene setting Osiris up as the first in a series, we can only assume Kelly and Ravi will find other survivors still fighting the aliens. It's by no means a safe assumption. Enjoy the Ride Osiris leaves a lot of questions about the aliens, their invasion tactics, and their shipboard security painfully unanswered. The timeline of the film is still a little fuzzy, as is whether the aliens are just looking to hunt and gather or if they're colonizing to provide cattle for the homeworld. But if you're looking for a movie with very clear lines drawn between hunter and hunted, this is it. If throwing back to a time in sci-fi when resource management and hull integrity never even cross the mind turns your crank, you're in the zone. While it's not a movie that stands up to detailed scrutiny, Osiris is packed with solid action scenes, lots of alien conflict, and epitomizes the need to survive against all odds. Even when they're never in your favor. Osiris premieres in select theaters and drops for streaming on Plex on July 25. SDCC 2025: MIGHTY NEIN Gets Premiere Date; THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA Renewed for Season 5 Diana lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada, where she invests her time and energy in teaching, writing, parenting, and indulging her love of all Trek and a myriad of other fandoms. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. You can also find her writing at The Televixen, Women at Warp, TV Fanatic, and TV Goodness.
BBC News
20-07-2025
- BBC News
Renewed murder appeal in Paul Pike's 2010 traffic lights shooting
One summer's evening 15 years ago, and with his girlfriend sitting by his side, Paul Pike was driving along a busy main road in his red 23-year-old, from the Belle Vale area of Liverpool, had no idea he was being followed by an underworld assassin in a stolen silver Audi TT. The killer, or killers, took their chance when Mr Pike's van stopped at traffic lights at the junction of Crosby Road North and South Road in 23:20 BST on 5 June 2010, the Audi pulled up alongside the van before shots were as the fatally wounded Mr Pike slumped next to his girlfriend, the Audi driver did a U-turn and more shots were Mr Pike's terrified partner survived with minor injuries caused by flying glass. Detectives discovered the Audi had been stolen from the Hawarden area of North Wales on 21 May 2010. Its burnt-out remains were found shortly after the shooting in Fairfield, a street off Endbutt Lane in Crosby. In the days after the murder, Merseyside Police released a CCTV image of the road which showed a silver Ford C-Max, a black taxi and a third car at the traffic force urged their drivers to get in touch. Since then, 13 people have been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting, but no-one has faced criminal charges despite police offering a £10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of Mr Pike's killer or force has previously said Mr Pike was known to police and that detectives believe the attack on him was targeted. 'Unimaginable pain' Howard Rubbery, head of Merseyside Police's Serious Case Review Unit which investigates cold cases, has made a renewed appeal for information. "Paul's murder caused his family and friends unimaginable pain, and we know someone out there has information that could help bring his killer to justice," he told BBC Rubbery said any potential witnesses who may not have "felt comfortable" coming forward back then may "feel differently" now. He said: "Time is never a barrier to achieving justice when families have been left grieving and any information on who was involved and who was in that Audi TT that night will be taken extremely seriously."Paul's family and friends are still dealing with his loss. I can reassure them that Merseyside Police will not give up until those responsible are put before the courts." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
Daily Mail
12-07-2025
- Daily Mail
'Army' of police shut down crime boss 'Hotdog' Smith's house on illegal scrapyard as wife says she will be forced to live 'in a TENT'
A 'small army' of police surrounded and shut down a crime boss's illegal home and scrapyard this week as his wife sat by in despair in a move she says will force her to 'live in a tent'. Underworld figure Tommy 'Hotdog' Smith was jailed in 2019 for his role in a nationwide stolen goods and money laundering racket following a covert police operation. While he remains behind bars, Mr Smith's wife Mary was living in a detached eight-bedroom house built on a scrapyard they own in Great Harwood, East Lancashire. But on Monday morning around a dozen police vehicles and 20 uniformed cops descended upon the site on Meadow Street and locked it off, ending years of misery for fed up locals. The vast scrapyard to the back of the house had been at the centre of a growing row following repeated instances of antisocial behaviour, criminal activity and countless fires, prompting fury among nearby residents. Police said 'illegal activity' has been taking place at the sprawling yard, which is also home to a collection of static caravans and stables. One fire linked to the site burned for days and took firefighters 240 hours to put out. One local mum compared the police presence to a 'small army' and said: 'We all know who Tommy is. There has been all sorts going on down there for years, with lots of fires. Let's just say he is a bit of a character.' After a judge granted a closure order on the site, mother-of-four Mrs Smith complained that the order would effectively leave her and her family homeless. Her legal team argued that members of the Smith family should be allowed to live at the house, and that the fires were caused by tenants, according to Lancs Live. The 48-year-old told the court she and her 19-year-old daughter Indiana had purchased a 'two-man tent' and 'that is all', to which the judge asked: 'You have a £1.4million turnover and you are going to live in a tent?' Mrs Smith refuted this, telling Judge Guy Mathieson: 'I don't know what you are talking about, I don't own any business. Sir, I think you have got it wrong. 'My husband has been in jail for the past seven years, I haven't had any business for at least six years.' She argued she has even had to begin claiming benefits, however had not provided any paperwork to support this claim. Mrs Smith's appeal against the order was rejected during the hearing at Preston Crown Court. On Monday, when MailOnline visited the site, the mum was seen wearing a tracksuit, crouched on a kerb outside her home spending much of the time on her phone. When approached by MailOnline she said: 'Some members of the press have violated our personal information. I have no further comment to make.' Earlier in the day a burly man in a tracksuit, who was seen shadow boxing with pals, said to the Mail: 'Mary is not very happy which is no surprise. The newspapers will get nothing from me so why don't you just f*** off.' Officers boarded up the front door to the large detached house, which featured two Roman style stone lions at the entrance. The court order granted by Judge Mathieson prohibits anyone from entering or remaining on the Meadow Street site for three months from July 4 at the risk of arrest, imprisonment and or a fine. The notice reads: 'The owner/occupier will therefore have to find alternative accommodation.' A local councillor who asked not to be named said to the Mail: 'The closure order was the culmination of a long running saga at the scrap yard. 'There have been numerous fires and other issues over recent years. This is now a multi-agency matter involving the police, council, RSPCA and other bodies. 'Unfortunately this appears to be a criminal operation and there is a degree of fear and intimidation around these people. Individuals brave enough to have spoken out have been targeted in the past. Although he is in prison there are still some dangerous people involved.' The couple bought the site on Meadow Street for around £8,000 in 1996. A planning application to build a house on the site was approved in 2010. Smith was jailed for five years in 2017 after police seized a sawn-off shotgun while executing a warrant at his home. He was jailed for six and a half years in 2019 following a complex police operation into stolen goods and money laundering. Preston Crown Court heard how some of the stolen items were tagged under the account name 'Hot Dog Tom'. Mary Smith was jailed for 15 months as part of the same prosecution. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods and money laundering. Detective Inspector Vinnie De Curtis, of Lancashire Police, said officers 'unearthed a widespread and deliberate conspiracy to steal machinery, vehicles and stock amounting to thousands of pounds' in 2017 linked to Tommy Smith and his associates. 'The audacity of those involved in stealing these items was staggering, with the goods often taken from within secure compounds before being sold on, or taken to auction,' he said. The Mail approached Lancashire Police for a comment on the activity which took place on Monday. A spokesperson said: 'We have served a closure order at an illegal waste site in Great Harwood. 'The order prevents anybody entering or remaining on land at The Oaks on Meadow Street for the next three months. 'Our officers went onto the site yesterday (7th July) with partners to serve the order and ensure it was fully complied with. There were no incidents of any note. 'The closure order was sought after numerous concerns were raised about illegal activity on the site, with significant impact being felt by the local community due to the illegal burning of waste. 'By working closely with partners, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, Hyndburn Borough Council and the Environment Agency, we were able to take legal action.' The order, under Section 80 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, was initially granted at Lancaster Magistrates' Court on 18th February. However, it was postponed after the respondent was granted leave to appeal. That appeal was heard by a Judge at Preston Crown Court on Friday and was refused. ACC Stasia Osiowy, of Lancashire Police said: 'I welcome the granting of this closure order which is the right outcome for a community which has been affected for a long period of time by illegal activity from a set of individuals who believe the law doesn't apply to them. 'I fully understand the frustration felt by local residents and businesses who were impacted by illegal activity sometimes on a daily basis. 'We have been working hard with our partners behind the scenes to bring a resolution to this issue, however we have not always been able to talk about it publicly. 'I hope the serving of this closure order today and our presence at the site yesterday reassures the public that where we identify criminal behaviour of any kind we will work with our partners to bring it to an end. 'The action is part of Op Centurion, which is county-wide crackdown on anti-social behaviour, led by Lancashire Constabulary and backed by the Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw, delivering his Fighting Crime Plan priority of getting tough on anti-social behaviour, with the support of our partners.' Mr Grunshaw said: 'The closure of this site marks a significant and long overdue step forward for the local community. 'Residents have endured persistent anti-social behaviour, criminality, and disruption linked to this location and I commend the coordinated efforts of Lancashire Constabulary and our partners in taking decisive action. 'This outcome demonstrates the power of partnership and the importance of listening to residents' concerns, who have campaigned tirelessly for action. 'Tackling anti-social behaviour is a key priority in my Police and Crime Plan, and Operation Centurion is delivering real results by holding offenders to account and restoring confidence in our communities. 'I want to thank everyone involved in bringing this case to court and securing this outcome.
Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Emotional scenes in court as jury hands down verdict in brutal car park shooting that left a bikie dead
Gasps, tears and prayers were heard after a man was found guilty of brazenly shooting down an underworld figure over stolen luxury vehicles. Lone Wolf bikie Yusuf Nazlioglu, 40, was fatally shot multiple times in the car park of his apartment building in Sydney 's inner west in June 2022. The ex-gangster, who had been acquitted of shooting dead former Comanchero boss Mick Hawi, died the following day in hospital on June 28. Mohammed Baltagi, 26, Mohammed Hosni Khaled, 27, and Abdulrahman Mohamed Atteya, 31, were each charged with murder through a joint criminal agreement. The court heard prosecutors believed either Atteya or another man Rabieh Baltagi - who fled Australia in July 2022 - pulled the trigger. Khaled and Mohammed Baltagi were accused of planning the attack. On Monday, Atteya was found guilty of murder after lengthy deliberations by a jury. His family, who filled the NSW Supreme Court's public gallery, let out gasps, cries and prayers as the verdict was handed down. Atteya did not react initially but hugged his mother and other supporters before being escorted away by sheriffs. Earlier this month, Khaled was found guilty over the shooting while Baltagi was acquitted. During the trial, Nazlioglu's widow Jade Jeske, formerly Jade Heffer, described seeing her husband shot in the car park. She said she saw someone covering his head running with a pistol towards her husband as he stood next to their car. Ms Jeske ducked under the dash to hide as she heard eight successive gunshots and then a further two, the jury heard. The jury heard her husband's killing may have been motivated by the theft of two rented luxury vehicles from a business in Lansdale, in western Sydney. Crown prosecutor Eric Balodis said Nazlioglu had hired two Mercedes vehicles, one black and one white, from the business in May 2022. Footage played to the court show masked or hooded men entered the car park of Nazlioglu's home, the same one he would be shot in, on May 23 to retrieve the black car. A pair of Mercedes cars Nazlioglu failed to return to a rental business in Sydney's west were cited as a possible motive for his murder (pictured, Nazlioglu, wearing a black T-shirt, stealing-back the black Mercedes) Three days later, Ms Jeske saw a TikToker livestreaming from the same black Mercedes and was able to pinpoint its location in the Sydney CBD. CCTV showed Nazlioglu jumped from the passenger seat of the white Mercedes next to the black Mercedes, unlocked it and sped off. The court was told the three accused murderers had connections at the car rental business. Nazlioglu had himself faced a lengthy murder trial in 2020 after Comanchero boss Mick Hawi was gunned down at Fitness First in Rockdale in 2018. He was accused of being the balaclava-clad gunman but he and Jamal Eljaidi - said to be his getaway driver - were both acquitted by a jury. The Crown alleged Nazlioglu was motivated to kill Hawi after the former close friends fell out when the relationship soured during a fishing trip to the Central Coast in the summer of 2016/17. Atteya, Baltagi and Khaled had all pleaded not guilty to their charges and denied any involvement in the shooting. Baltagi was released from custody after he was acquitted on June 19. Atteya and Khaled will remain behind bars until their sentencing dates.
