Notorious gangland figure Gavin “Capable” Preston was shot and killed in Preston on Saturday morning in the Melbourne suburb of Keilor.
Preston was having breakfast with Abbas “AJ” Maghnie, the son of late crime boss Nabil Maghnie, when the men opened fire.
Preston, a notorious name in the criminal underworld for three decades, died at the scene. Maghnie remains in hospital with serious injuries.
It comes just weeks after a series of shootings in Sydney, amid an escalating gang war, which saw 5 people shot in as many days.
Associate Professor Mark Lauchs, a researcher of organised crime and corruption with an expertise in outlaw motorcycle gangs, spoke to The Project to explain why so many of these attacks occur in broad daylight.
“A lot of them are getting caught, especially in Sydney. It’s not a very effective method of doing it [killing]. And I think it’s got a lot to do with how much money people are willing to spend to get the job done properly.”
Lauchs explained that “old school crooks” like Chopper Reid would not brazenly murder someone in broad daylight. “We would just not hear about them anymore.”
“We are already in an era of gangland violence. It’s just spreading, really, out of Sydney into parts of the country.”
Lauchs believes that this kind of organised violence will eventually spread more to Melbourne, and then into Brisbane.
“It’s connected mostly to the rise in the drug trade and the money that’s associated with that.”
“It’s very hard for the police to prevent this sort of violence…. This isn't something that they can put plans in place to stop random killings [in the point of view of the public].”
