Mahmoud Hawi,witnesses place Hawi at Sydney International Airport killing.

Comanchero boss struck rival Hells Angel

By Lisa Davies
The Daily Telegraph
May 01, 2009 04:00pm

COMANCHERO boss Mick Hawi was seen attacking the brother of a rival bikie three times with a metal bollard during a fatal brawl at Sydney airport, police will claim.

It has also been alleged that Hawi was seen making a “verbal threat” to Peter Zervas from the Hells Angels - and the brother of Anthony Zervas, who died in the violence – as he fled the scene.

The evidence emerged as Hawi, one of six Comanchero arrested after the melee, applied for bail in a Sydney court.

The court heard how a witness has told police of seeing Hawi “wielding a bollard and hitting Mr Anthony Zervas" while he was lying on the ground, three times above his waist.

Another witness has also told of seeing Hawi “bent at the waist” near the same man on the ground, and once he moved away “this witness noticed that there was blood on the ground in the area of the man’s head.”

The pregnant wife of Hawi was in court today to give evidence to help plead for her husband's freedom.

However, she was not called before proceedings ended this afternoon.

Hawi and five other Comanchero members are charged with affray following the attack.

Hawi, 28, of Bexley, has been in custody on a charge of affray since his arrest on April 6.

The charge stems from a March 22 brawl at Sydney airport that resulted in the death of 29-year-old Anthony Zervas, whose brother Peter is a Hells Angel.

Hawi's lawyer John Korn has argued the affray charge relates only to an incident that occurred shortly after Hawi and his associates disembarked a flight, and not the subsequent brawl that killed Mr Zervas.

But police also allege Hawi held Mr Zervas down while he was hit in the head with a bollard. "You can't ask for bail to be refused by putting before a court material on which he has not been charged,'' Mr Korn told Sydney's Central Local Court today.

"To strike someone with a metal bollard ... and cause a pool of blood about the size of a plate to come from a victim's face - it doesn't take much to understand that's capable of becoming another charge.''

Magistrate David Armati said the injuries Mr Zervas suffered, and his subsequent death, should be considered as part of Hawi's bail application.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will provide 170 witness statements to Hawi's legal team on Tuesday, May 5, with an unknown number of statements still outstanding.

The DPP continues to oppose bail for Hawi, but Mr Korn urged the court to consider bail options such as Hawi being placed under house arrest at his Bexley home.