Non-Payment of $2000 Debt Costs Life

A heroin addict was killed during an argument over money owed.

Crime:  Manslaughter

Occurred:  13 June 2004

Sentenced: 4 February 2011

Where: Convicted's home - not identified (body found in Thomastown)

Convicted: Bassam Tiba

Victim: Richard Haddara


What happened?
Richard owed Bassam's brother, Zain, some money.  Richard accepted $2000 in exchange for supplying electrical equipment, but never provided the equipment or returned the money.

On Sunday 13 June 2004, at Bassam's residence, Bassam had an argument with Richard over the money and stabbed him once in the chest, which pierced his heart and killed him.  Bassam put Richard in the back of Richard's car and drove it over to Zain's house, who jumped in the car and urged Bassam to go to the hospital.  Bassam drove in that direction but decided to dump the car at a carpark in Thomastown instead. He travelled on foot to another brother's house (Mohammed) and the next day flew out of Australia with his family, using Mohammed's passport.  He was extradited from Honiara in the Solomon Islands in December 2008.

Victim's background
Richard was a heroin addict who met Bassam in prison.  Before his death he was avoiding Bassam and his brother and was either unwilling or unable to pay back the debt owing.

Convicted's background
Bassam was born in Lebanon and came to Australia at the age of 12 with his parents and seven siblings.  He left Preston Tech after completing Year 10.  In 2000 he was imprisoned for four years and six months (before eligible for parole), for savagely beating his wife with a hose and a metal tipped cane.  His wife stayed loyal and waited for him while he was in prison.  He was out on parole for a month when he stabbed Richard to death.  After the killing he fled to Lebanon and then Egypt, working as an English teacher with his wife.  When he is released from prison he wants to return to his wife and children who remain in Egypt.  Currently in restrictive custody, he has been confined to his cell for 18 hours a day since May 2010, following an incident in prison involving other members of the Haddara family.

Outcome of trial: Bassam was originally indicted for murder, but once the charge was changed to manslaughter he pleaded guilty so there was no need for a trial.

Sentence:  6 years and 6 months before eligible for parole (max 10 years).

You can read the judgement here.  This killing has taken place in the midst of family feuding in the northern and western suburbs (major players including the Haddaras, Bibas and Chaouks).  You can read about it here, here and here.  The death toll points to another major gang war currently playing out around us.