AUSTRALIA - Hells Angels boss in wedding party plea

OFF THE WIRE
A Hells Angels bikie gang boss accused of attempting to extort property from a luxury car dealer will mount an 11th hour appeal for bail to attend his own lavish wedding celebration.

Mostafa Jouayde, 30, from Sydney, was refused bail yesterday despite pleas by his lawyer to allow him to attend the A$32,000, 250-guest ceremony at Lidcome on Saturday.

George Thomas, the lawyer, said Mr Jouayde, a former Bandido gang member and the president of the Hells Angels Parramatta chapter, and his wife, Susie Arida, married in September last year in a small religious ceremony but were yet to celebrate the union.

''They have already paid the hip-hop artists, the magicians, the Lebanese band,'' Mr Thomas told the court. ''The $6000 deposit for the bar ... the wedding dresses, the bridesmaids' dresses.

Mr Jouayde's four co-accused were granted conditional bail on the basis that their involvement in the alleged extortion was less serious but magistrate Christopher Longley initially denied Mr Jouayde bail, despite an offer of A$20,000 surety.
Late yesterday afternoon Mr Thomas returned to the court with a greater offer of surety and was given the right to appeal the bail.
He said that he was under immense pressure from the families of Mr Jouayde and Ms Arida.
Police allege Mr Jouayde and the four co-accused went to the racehorse owner Terry Mullens' car dealership on Parramatta Road on Monday afternoon and demanded a silver BMW M3 valued at A$43,990.
All five men have been charged with attempted extortion and participating in a criminal group.
They are also alleged to have been involved in stealing four luxury cars from the dealer on Thursday before returning them undamaged less than two days later.
Mr Thomas said the prosecution case against Mr Jouayde, the owner of a tattoo shop in Parramatta, was weak.
''I would go so far as [to say] a complete wrong charge,'' he told the court.
He said his client went to the Motor Gallery car dealership on Saturday to ''negotiate'' with Mr Mullens over the trade of a motorbike for a BMW.
Ms Arida sobbed in court as the magistrate refused bail for Mr Jouayde.
''We've just lost all our money because of [the magistrate's decision],'' she said outside the court.
The other four men are due to face court again on July 27.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/5278404/Hells-Angels-boss-in-wedding-party-plea