A sex worker broke down in tears as she recounted the terrifying moment when Bilal Hamze, the head of the notorious Hamze crime family, was gunned down in front of her moments after they shared a light-hearted dinner.
Leaving Sydney’s Kid Kyoto restaurant on June 17, 2021, the woman said she and Hamze — who she knew as “Bill” — were laughing and in good spirits. Suddenly, a loud bang rang out, prompting Hamze to flee, and she followed.
“I’ve never heard anything like it,” she told the NSW Supreme Court. “I didn’t know what it was.”
She hid in an alcove until the gunshots stopped, then ran to find Hamze lying face-down on the pavement. “I ran up to Bill and touched his arms and back and I was screaming ‘stop’ and ‘help’,” she said, sobbing.
Too distraught to speak, she initially hung up after dialling triple zero but tried to assist Hamze, who was groaning and had suffered gunshot wounds to the abdomen, hip, and elbow. He later died in hospital.
His final moments were revealed during the trial of Samuel John Rokomaqisa, an alleged associate of the rival Alameddine crime network. Rokomaqisa, 35, has pleaded not guilty to Hamze’s murder, a conspiracy to kill Hamze’s brother Ibrahem, and assault during a carjacking.
Prosecutors allege Rokomaqisa committed the crimes to earn the Alameddine gang’s trust.
However, his lawyer argues there is no eyewitness proof placing him in the black Audi used in the drive-by shooting. The car had heavily tinted windows, which hindered visibility, according to a taxi driver and a nearby security guard.
The guard said the driver wore a blue surgical mask, and the taxi driver recalled flashes and loud bangs coming from a slightly lowered passenger window.
An eyewitness, Carolyn Howard, who had been walking behind Hamze and the woman at the time, told the court the scene was terrifying.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that,” she said, recounting the rapid fire of “probably 10 shots.”
The court also heard that the sex worker had received several calls and texts around the time of the shooting from a man described as “frantic”—a person of interest allegedly near the restaurant when the shooting took place.
The trial is ongoing.
