AUSTRALIA - Bikies deny murder in Sydney airport brawl

OFF THE WIRE
Six Comanchero bikies have denied murdering a man at Sydney Airport, with jurors hearing the victim was the first to attack in the fatal brawl.

Anthony Zervas, the brother of Hells Angel Peter Zervas, flicked the hood of his jacket over his face and ran towards the Comancheros. One of them then yelled "he's got a gun", defence barristers said in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday.

Mr Zervas, 29, then came at Comanchero president Mahmoud Hawi, stabbing him with scissors or a knife, said Hawi's lawyer Philip Dunn, QC.

He told the court the "big issue in the case" would be whether his client was entitled to defend himself.

"Did the Comanchero run down and attack the Hells Angels or did the Hells Angels move towards the Comanchero?" he said.

Hawi is standing trial for the murder of Mr Zervas in March 2009, along with fellow club members Farres Abounader, Ishmail Eken, Zoran Kisacanin, Christian Menzies and Usama Potrus.

A rival bikie, Hells Angel David Padovan, is charged with riot and affray but his barrister on Thursday said he acted in self-defence after being given "a really good belting".

All the men have pleaded not guilty.

Crown prosecutor Natalie Adams said in her opening address that Mr Zervas was kicked, punched, stabbed and hit with bollards after a chance encounter between gang members on a flight from Melbourne.

Both sides allegedly had called for reinforcements. Among them was Anthony Zervas, who had "nearly lethal amounts" of cocaine in his system, as well as methadone and alcohol, the court heard.

Mr Dunn said there was hostility between the clubs and "it is admitted words were said" between Hawi and Hells Angel president Derek Wainohu, who had been on the same plane.

A Qantas hostess said she saw a man, who she later identified as Hawi, pull his eyelid down and point to the pink of his eye, in a gesture towards another passenger.

The other man didn't react, she said.

A scuffle broke out at Gate 5 but it didn't last long and no one was injured, Mr Dunn said.

Moments later in the check-in area, the groups clashed again, this time fatally.

John Stratton, Menzies' lawyer, said his client "flatly denies" striking Mr Zervas with a bollard while lawyer James Trevallion said his client Abounader did not stab, punch or kick the victim.

Abounader also denied saying the words "I shanked him" as he fled the scene, the court heard.

Eken's barrister, Philip Young SC, said his client was "simply involved in a separate skirmish" and bolted when it ended.

Ron Driels, for Potrus, said the accused "didn't go in to fight" and expected evidence that he "was flattened, hit and knocked to the ground" before running away.

John Gordon, for Kisacanin, said there was no evidence his client was involved in any way with a knife, a knuckleduster or any other weapon.

"Who in their right mind would go to an airport to commit an offence of this nature?" he asked.

The trial, before Justice Robert Allan Hulme, is expected to last six months.


http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/bikies-deny-murder-in-sydney-airport-brawl-20110526-1f5ga.html