‘Savage’ attack on bikie gang defector
Two senior members of a notorious bikie gang brutally attacked a former member who thought he’d left the club “amicably”.
Joseph Muratore, 32, tackled ex-Fink Kahan Umit to the floor before stabbing and punching him in a savage sustained assault in Dandenong in Melbourne’s southeast in March last year.
Co-accused Lee Martin, 48, helped trap and chase Mr Umit, the County Court of Victoria was told on Friday.
Prior to the stabbing, the two bikies, along with fellow Fink John Pahoumidis and an unknown fourth man, confronted Mr Umit outside a factory before Pahoumidis punched him in the face.
The court was told Muratore performed a “flying kick” on Mr Umit when he tried to escape before tackling him to the ground and stabbing him.
The four men fled the scene, leaving Umit for dead as he lay bleeding on the floor.
Mr Umit was rushed to the Alfred Hospital with “life-threatening” injuries, needing emergency surgery to repair a punctured lung and suffering spinal and rib fractures.
He thought he had left the Finks on “amicable” terms a few weeks beforehand, he later told police.
Judge Elizabeth Gaynor said the attack was “clearly carried out in pursuit of Finks business” despite lawyers for Muratore and Martin saying it was not gang-related.
Judge Gaynor slammed the “pathetic” behaviour of both men as she sentenced them in the County Court of Victoria on Friday.
“I feel as if I’m dealing with a pair of immature teenagers,” the judge said, imploring them to reconsider their membership of the motorcycle gang.
Muratore received three years and four months in jail after pleading guilty to recklessly causing serious injury along with drugs and weapons offences.
Judge Gaynor said Muratore was “extremely fortunate” another person came out of the factory and helped Mr Umit.
“If he had died, you would have been facing a murder charge,” Judge Gaynor said.
Police arresting Muratore in May last year found a sawn-off shotgun hidden in a golf bag and three samurai swords in a bedroom cupboard, along with drugs and a device used to jam police radios.
This was evidence Muratore was “entrenched” in the criminal underworld, the court was told.
Muratore appeared in court via video link dressed in a green sweatshirt and with several neck tattoos clearly visible.
He watched on blankly as his mother cried in the courtroom.
“Your mother is in tears and you have caused that,” a clearly angry Judge Gaynor told him, slamming his association with the Finks.
“You have stabbed a man, you could have killed him. You are now sitting in a maximum-security prison with your mental health deteriorating.
“All because you had to belong to a gang with a uniform and a motorcycle to ride around on.”
Martin was allowed to walk free from the courtroom after pleading guilty to common assault and driving while disqualified.
He had already served 457 days behind bars before being bailed earlier this year.
Noting both men were in long-term relationships, Judge Gaynor begged them to leave the Finks gang behind and start afresh.
“I just hope the two of you grow up and be the sorts of partners that your partners deserve. This is just ridiculous,” she said.
Pahoumidis has pleaded guilty to common law assault and possessing drugs of dependence, including cocaine and methylamphetamine, and is due to be sentenced for his role in the attack at a later date.
