Bashing ends bikie bond
Police probe prison clash with notorious family
THE ALLIANCE between the Hells Angels and Melbourne’s Chaouk family has ended with a jailhouse beating.
Two members of the wellknown western suburbs family were set upon in an ambush at maximum-security Barwon Prison this week.
Sources say a bust-up with members of the Hells Angels was the reason for the attack.
The Chaouk victims have been separated from the mainstream prison population since the attack.
The trio who launched into them are not believed to be Hells Angels members.
One is a convicted killer, another a violent neo-Nazi and the third a member of a ruthless drug syndicate.
The onslaught happened without warning in front of other prisoners, none of whom attempted to intervene.
It is believed the alleged attack happened outside the prison’s medical centre, during the morning medication roll call. It was quickly quelled by nearby prison staff but not before the Chaouk men suffered head wounds that required treatment.
The attackers are now the subject of a police investigation into what happened.
Investigators are expected to examine CCTV footage to help unravel how the violence unfolded.
It is unclear what level of co-operation they have re- ceived from victims, suspects or attackers.
The Chaouks were nervous the bust-up with the Hells Angels could lead to some form of retaliation, sources claimed.
Members of the Chaouk family have for years had strong links to the Hells Angels.
The riders were conspicuous among the congregation at the funeral of family patriarch Macchour Chaouk in 2010. After his death, prominent Hells Angels figures also placed death notices in the Herald Sun as tributes to the slain crime figure.
One Chaouk family member has been implicated in violent crime with the gang in the past.
It is not yet clear what led to the relationship between the two groups becoming so frayed. It is hard to get a read on what might be the impact of Monday’s Barwon beating in the fluid world of Middle-Eastern organised crime.
Leaving aside the formidable Haddara family, not too many have been keen to take the Chaouks on.
The Chaouks blamed the Haddaras for the still-unsolved murder of Macchour, who was fatally ambushed in his backyard.
The Haddaras have in the past been known to maintain ties with the Comanchero motorcycle gang.
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