Staunton still works in security, hospitality and logistics and as a bodyguard to A-list celebrities. But on his release from prison his power was much weakened. His principal once told him he would wind up dead or very rich. I put everything we made back into the club. Bill Bayeh and John Ibrahim would go on to play major roles in his life. Upon his release Staunton took himself to Bali then Amsterdam where he met two mysterious drug traffickers called Bram and Manfred who saw potential in him. ', 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. They were described by a police officer at the time as the biggest drug dealers in Kings Cross. 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. His rise from such depths was dramatic. Mr Ibrahim's lawyers claim in court documents that Mr Domican, a former ALP figure, accompanied Louis Bayeh to a meeting at the Cosmopolitan Cafe in Kings Cross, where the latter allegedly told Mr Ibrahim, "Who do you think you are, trying to take over the Cross?". Bayeh was a major player in the Kings Cross drugs scene during the 1990s. 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. In 2001, he was sentenced to another three years after pleading guilty to demanding money with menaces from two brothel keepers and for supplying cocaine and heroin. Its all who you know. 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''. For more information please click here. I've never hurt anyone.'. Twenty years later Staunton was locked up in a Canadian prison for his role in an international drug cartel which moved 25 tonnes of cannabis resin worth $1billion. They are proof of a violent youth but John says simply: Theyre my scars. Sydney's Kings Cross identity Bill Bayeh, 58, has been fined $1,500 He was unaware of the ban from Star Casino when he entered the venue His lawyer on Wednesday told court the businessman was. 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.. Bill and Louis Bayeh fight off threats to their drug dealing empire. Sydneys very small. Police were surprised to hear Bayeh was going back into business in the Cross. St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones signed the St. Louis Safer Streets bill Wednesday. Trevor Haken's alcoholism takes a toll on his marriage and his ability to manage police corruption. On Wednesday, Mayor Tishaura Jones signed the St. Louis Safer Street bill (BB120), utilizing $40 . I couldnt wait to get out of there and get amongst it. But she then stopped and turned to confront him about comments hed made some weeks earlier, sparking an argument that was recorded on her phone. During the hearing, counsel for the Commissioner, Christopher Lonergan, referred to a pre-release report by Bayeh's probation and parole officer. Kim Hollingsworth's colourful past comes back to haunt her. Jones hopes the end result of that work will resemble what has unfolded on a corridor not far from the site of the bill signing on the 3100 block of North Grand. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. Bayeh was a major player in the Kings Cross drugs scene during the 1990s. 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?. In it Bayeh alleges that Russell (Townsend), Sam Ibrahim and John: They got the whole street. Benny Kassab suspects that he has a rat in his ranks. We were supposed to be there a week but we couldnt stand it so we left after three days. 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. 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. Our contributors include the great investigators Bob Bottom and Al McCoy, and the wonderfully insightful Sydney artist Michael Fitzjames. However, Haken and Egan, along with drug dealer Bill Bayeh, set up an elaborate "sting" for their own profit. The victim was transported to the . He is vehement when he says he does not deal drugs. It typifies Johns blithe attitude to life. 'I've a million acquaintances but I've got a handful of friends. Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Anything else was probably a waste of time. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. The view from Johns Dover Heights home is breathtaking. John Ibrahim claims Tom Domican was hired to intimidate him. If the police came knocking, the cashiers would pretend they were simply running an innocent entertainment business. Later that shift Staunton was told to drive several drunk constables to nearby Moore Park where his colleagues stormed into a toilet block wielding their truncheons at 'poofters'. With a combination of manipulation, violence and a crude but highly effective business strategy, Bayeh developed a 24-hour-a-day operation that effectively monopolised the Kings Cross drugs market in the early '90s, feeding the red-light district's seemingly insatiable appetite for cocaine and heroin. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Later John confides: All these people, weve been together since we had nothing. Violence increased partly because of the nature of the drug trade, and partly because the degree of stability once provided in the underworld by the involvement of corrupt police largely disappeared. 'They did, however, break more laws than any of my friends outside the force.'. 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. "I just want to make a living like everybody else," said Bayeh. But a group always has a dominant personality.. 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. I dont think anyone expected he, would be involved in a business here. Staunton was again brought unstuck by an undercover cop and was arrested in January 1997 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We will abide by every single rule here and will be running a 100 per cent clean establishment, he said. Louis Bayeh Managing Director & Founder at Hills Auto Centre Toongabbie, New South Wales, Australia 40 followers 39 connections Join to connect Hills Auto Centre Marist Brother's Parramatta. The clubs turned over close to $6m in the six years its been there. Sergeant Jim Egan and Trevor Haken devise a plan to swindle money from the federal police. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. We used to do taekwondo together. Those who have crossed him no doubt have a different story to tell. Young waitress Kim Hollingsworth turns to prostitution after she discovers her abusive boyfriend Trent has stolen money from her. While supporting Bayeh's release, the officer said: ''Mr Bayeh attempted to present a facade of a naive man, eager to charm and please. Hakim expanded his contacts among police and became a general intermediary between them and the underworld. In 1998, after disposing of Danny Karam, drug dealer Michael Kanaan devises a plan to murder John Ibrahim and his bodyguard, Kiwi Steve, in order to divert attention. Called to give evidence about his relationship with police and criminals including Bayeh, Staunton refused to speak and was jailed for contempt. I'd know the stakes and reaped the rewards. Russell Townsend, described in Royal Commission evidence as an alleged drug dealer, is a friend and gym partner. One of those cases of stolen whisky was subsequently planted in Staunton's own car and he left the force rather than implicate anyone else. Please try again later. 9NEWS reports the 56-year-old reportedly became involved in a heated argument with Leanne Nesbitt, now an intensive care nurse, outside St Vincent's Hospital last night at about 6.30pm. Sydney was founded by criminals who for years formed a majority of its population. People just dont want to go there. Bayeh, 56, who was portrayed in Underbelly: The Golden Mile, spent 15 years in prison for cocaine and heroin trafficking. 'I'd weighed my options and taken the risk. What they do for their living and what they do for their business is none of my business. Parole authority orders he not gamble, or frequent the Kings Cross area. In 1988 they were all to be found on the Golden Mile. She also said the city was in the early stages of looking at if the city should staff a non-police traffic enforcement unit. King's Cross detectives Graham "Chook" Fowler and Neville "Scully" Scullion are called to testify to the Wood Royal Commission. Newcomer Benny Kassab starts dealing drugs in competition with the Bayeh brothers. He is also talking about the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service and the heavy toll it has exacted from Sydneys red light district. Theyre more important than money, John confides. Kim Hollingsworth is expelled from the Goulburn Academy for failing to disclose her work as a prostitute. ELECTION WRAP. In the course of them doing their job theyve got to stickybeak everywhere, he says. The argument erupted after intensive care nurse Leanne Nesbitt passed Bayeh on her way to work at St Vincents Hospital about 6.40pm on a Sunday in February 2015. ST. LOUIS - The city of St. Louis will invest more than $60 million to try to make streets and sidewalks safer. Former Sydney drug kingpin Bill Bayeh has been granted parole after more than a decade in jail. New South Wales Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham opposed Bayeh's parole, saying he was just presenting a facade as a naive man. While the club is being renovated John keeps up a fitness regimen, working out at the City Gym on Crown St more than four times a week. Ms Nesbitt feared for her safety and called police. A friend embarks on a monologue about the imprudence of talking to the press and John quiets him with a simple Thatll do. Together, they form a ruthless gang and set about taking over the King's Cross drug trade. It was a gift from his grandparents and it keeps his enemies away. The Reverend Fred Nile described him in parliament as Mr Fixit, an acknowledgement of the power he had acquired through his vast range of contacts in the Lebanese community, the police force, and elsewhere. Every job I got was eventually going to lead me to where I am now. I know a lot of people in Sydney. Hakim was used by the Gaming Squad to sign warrants for almost every raid it conducted from 1971 to 1979. See more at www.tennews.com.au 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. 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. 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. In a recorded interview, Bayeh admitted to a confrontation but denied pushing her or saying anything about a vibrator or dildo. 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. 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. 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. But the NSW Corrective Services Commissioner still argued against Bayeh's release yesterday. We went to state level.. 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