Richard Arow’s girlfriend can still hear the blood-curdling screams as he was shot dead minutes after arriving at Melbourne’s Love Machine club.
“What began as the most beautiful day and evening quickly became the most harrowing, terrifying and life-altering event,” Rebekah Spinks told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Mr Arow and Ms Spinks were standing outside the Prahran nightclub with some friends on April 14, 2019, when a car drove by and fired four shots.
She watched in horror as her 28-year-old partner and security guard Aaron Osmani, 37, fell to the ground after being shot in the head just after 3am.
Both men died from their injuries. Security guard Semisi Tu’itufu was struck in the shoulder, while another bullet went through club-goer Ukash Ahmed and into Ali Shohani as they lined up.
“I didn’t see the car coming, I heard the gunfire and I watched as Richard fell to the ground like a ragdoll,” Ms Spinks said, between tears.
“The people on the street ran and I ran to Richard. From time to time, I still have to hear the blood-curdling screams from my own lungs.”
More than three years on, Ms Spinks still cannot walk down busy streets filled with cars for fear that someone may fire bullets in her direction.
“They shot at a crowd of defenceless people with no time to defend ourselves, it was completely gutless,” she said.
Jacob Elliott fired four shots from a car driven by Allan Fares at the club, near the corner of Little Chapel Street and Malvern Road.
They went to the club after Elliott’s younger half-brother Ali Maghnie was booted out for poor behaviour. Mr Maghnie spoke to his father Nabil Maghnie and then to his brother after the incident.
Elliott and Fares drove past the nightclub four times before the shooting.
The pair were found guilty of two counts of murder and three of attempted murder by a Supreme Court jury in April.
A third man, Moussa Hamka, was found guilty of one charge of assisting the men after he knowingly concealed the gun used in the shooting.
All three faced a pre-sentence hearing on Wednesday, where prosecutors asked the court to impose lengthy prison sentences for shooting at innocent bystanders.
“That was a grossly violent act committed upon defenceless victims, who had no reason whatsoever to suspect that they were under any risk or danger,” Justin Bourke QC told the court.
“The victims were selected to send a message that any disrespect, such as an ejection from a nightclub for being intoxicated, would not be tolerated.”
Five victims gave statements to the court about the impact of the shooting, including Mr Tu’itufu who said he wished he could have stepped in and saved Mr Osmani and Mr Arow’s lives.
“To this day, I never felt like I did enough,” he said.
The hearing continues before Justice Andrew Tinney.
