The former boss of the Canberra Rebels bikie club has been jailed over a series of phone conversations, riddled with expletives, during which he threatened to hurt several people.
Key points:
Ali Bilal pleaded guilty to three charges of using a carriage service to threaten serious harm and two charges of using a carriage service to menage, harass or offend
Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said the conversations displayed “manipulative aggression”
Bilal was sentenced to 13 months in prison, but that will be suspended after four months
Ali Bilal, 50, pleaded guilty tofive charges relating to using a carriage service to harass or threaten serious harmafter the conversations were captured in telephone intercepts.
In one conversation played to the ACT Magistrates Court, he told a woman he was trying to contact someone and wanted her to arrange the meeting, ignoring the woman’s pleas to listen to her.
“Get him to meet me. That’s it,” Bilal screamed into the phone.
“I’m gonna f*** him, his mother, his father. I’m not gonna leave anybody tonight,” Bilal told her.
In another conversation, Bilal asked a man who had angered him where he was.
“We’ll just come to you now,” he said.
“Forget the bulls***.
“We’ll come to the site where you are now and we’ll deal with you in public in front of everybody to finally make a statement in this town.
“I’m happy to go to jail for it. Let’s not f*** around anymore.”
Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said the conversations revealed a grandiose and alarming attitude and displayed “manipulative aggression”.
But she noted Bilal had said he never intended to carry out the threats.
Chief Magistrate Walker said Bilal had also expressed some remorse in his pre-sentence report, although she said that he should be qualified.
“He has not demonstrated contrition in any practical sense,” she said.
The court heard that Bilal had left the Rebels, although Chief Magistrate Walker said that news was also “received with some skepticism” given Bilal’s long association with gangs.
Chief Magistrate Walker said some of the conversations may have been driven by some kind of perverted form of moral authority.
But she said there was no other option but to send him to jail.
Bilal has been sentenced to 13 months in prison, but that will be suspended after four months.
He will also have to sign an 18-month supervision order.
From a room filled with unopened birthday presents, to framed photos and videos on phones, the Spadafora family’s home is filled with sweet and painful reminders of the little girl they lost.
Key points:
Rozalia at first seemed to recover from an infection, but then her condition deteriorated
She was taken to Canberra Hospital, where her family say they were ignored for hours before she died
The ACT Coroner is investigating the circumstances surrounding her death
For the mother of five-year-old Rozalia Spadafora, who died earlier this month at the Canberra Hospital, bedtime is the worst.
“I sleep with the little pajamas that she had on at hospital because that’s the only thing I have,” Katrina Spadaford said.
“My son, he doesn’t even want to come out of his bedroom… he’s just distraught.”
‘No help ever came’
In the days before her fifth birthday, Rozalia became unwell with what the doctor at first thought was an ear infection.
It was initially believed Rozalia Spadafora had an ear infection.(Supplied)
“It was just like a thing that many kids have been through before: a fever, sore throat,” Katrina said.
“With antibiotics, within a couple of days she was back to almost her normal self.”
But the weekend before her birthday she took a turn for the worse.
She awoke pale and lethargic with a swollen face.
On the recommendation of a doctor, Katrina and her mother took Rozalia to the Canberra Hospital’s emergency department.
What followed was a long order, through which Rozalia was left waiting for hours with what the family described as only the most cursory of examinations.
Even when Rozalia began throwing up, Katrina said their calls for help weren’t answered.
“No help ever came,” she said.
“My mother went to find more bed linen and blankets.”
Emergency helicopter diverted to airport
Rozalia’s family say they want to know more about how and why she died.(ABC News: Harry Frost)
Eventually the family were told Rozalia had Influenza A, and there was swelling around her heart.
However, because no pediatric cardiologist was available, she would need to be flown to Sydney.
It took several more hours for a helicopter to arrive and, even then, the family were told it wasn’t able to land at the hospital because the “tarmac was damaged” and it was diverted to the airport.
Katrina said medical staff struggled to get monitoring equipment to work so Rozalia could be driven to the airport.
But by then it was too late. Rozalia went into cardiac arrest.
“Her eyes rolled back and I could tell that that was it,” Katrina said.
“They rushed me, my mom and my dad out of the room.
“They came to give updates while they were doing [cardio pulmonary resuscitation] — giving us false hope. I knew it was false hope.
“They tried for about an hour but they couldn’t bring her back — she passed away.”
Katrina said they had around 20 minutes with Rozalia’s body before police arrived to take statements.
Rozalia was too unwell to open her birthday presents, and died the day after her birthday.(Supplied)
The family were left in shock, but Katrina said they weren’t contacted by the hospital until the day that ABC News reported a coronial investigation was underway.
Katrina said the family has serious concerns about Rozalia’s treatment in the lead-up to her death.
“I want to know what exactly happened,” Katrina said.
“When did they know my daughter was that sick and why wasn’t I told?”
“And I want to know why we don’t have the equipment here to deal with these problems.
“Why do we need to go to Sydney?
“We’re in the nation’s capital – this is a joke.
“No other family should have to go through this.
Canberra too small for some specialized services, Chief Minister says
An investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding Rozalia’s death at the Canberra Hospital.(ABC News: Penny McLintock)
Speaking on ABC Canberra on Friday, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said attracting and maintaining specialist medical services to the capital was difficult, given the ACT’s population, compared to that of Sydney and Melbourne.
“That is a reality of a city of 450,000 people as opposed to a city of five million people,” Mr Barr said.
“The range of health services is always going to be larger [in bigger cities].
“There are certain things where even Australia, with 26 million people, is too small to be able to sustain really highly specialized services for very rare health conditions.
“We’re all very, very sad about that news [of Rozalia’s death] and obviously we’ll take any recommendations from a coroner with the utmost seriousness.”
Health Minister Rachel Stephen Smith also offered condolences this week and said staff involved in the incident were being supported.
Katrina said her family had received no direct correspondence from the government.
In the aftermath, they are left with the birthday presents Rozalia was too unwell to open, the day before her death.
“I have to live with this and I’m not getting any support. I didn’t receive a phone call,” she said.
An investigation by the ACT Coroner has been launched.
A happy child, who loved the game and her teammates, and was “totally focused on winning a gold medal.”
So, when she was singled out and made to feel special about her ability by a coach, she didn’t see anything but encouragement.
“I had no clue grooming was a thing,” Karen said.
“I was completely oblivious.
“I didn’t see anything wrong in what was happening.”
Karen was 14 years old when she first met the person she says groomed her over several years, before the situation turned sexual.
She’d been flattered by phone calls and letters and encouraged to move interstate for her sport.
But then she found herself under someone else’s control, and was even forced to lie to her parents about the situation.
“It was almost as though a switch was turned off and from that moment any relationship with anybody … was just wrong because there was this lie,” she said.
‘They said they didn’t have insurance for that’
Karen eventually found her way out of the situation and built a new life, but the anguish of the grooming and abuse resurfaced when her own child began playing softball.
And that’s when she says she struck a brick wall.
Karen says the person who abused her was an Australian softball coach, and she believes Softball Australia is liable.
Softball Australia was not part of the National Redress Scheme set up after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, so she sought help from lawyers for a civil claim.
But she has accused the organization of stonewalling.
“They were approached and they pretty much denied any responsibility,” she said.
“They said they didn’t have insurance for these sorts of things and there was nothing they could really do.”
Karen says she was blocked in her bid for redress when she approached Softball Australia. (ABC News: Nickoles Coleman)
The National Redress Scheme says Softball Australia is now in the process of joining and has been included in a list of hundreds of others who’ve lodged an interest in being part of the scheme.
But lawyer Simon Brook from KnowMore, who works with survivors of child sexual abuse who are trying to get access to the scheme, says it remains a problem that some of the smaller sports have not signed up until now.
“Unfortunately, it is a serious issue and it does seem to be widespread across a number of sports,” he said.
He has suggested there could be some encouragement.
“The Australian government could consider further options for encouraging sport institutions to sign up to the National Redress Scheme,” he said.
‘Zero tolerance’ for behavior that puts young people at risk
But while Softball Australia is still working its way forward to join the redress scheme, it has taken other steps to deal with any contemporary allegations.
In a statement, the organization says it has zero tolerance for any behavior that puts the wellbeing of children and young people at risk.
“Softball Australia has a dedicated senior staff member to handle member complaints, and any complaint – whether historical or contemporary – must be treated in a timely and sensitive manner,” the statement outlined.
The organization also says it has adopted the National Integrity Framework, which aims to protect children in sport and is run through Sport Integrity Australia.
Sport Integrity Australia is better known for its drug monitoring, but now has a child protection policy, which includes a court system.
Karen says a softball coach started grooming her when she was just 14. (Supplied)
For Karen, nothing can change the past, but she says some things could make a difference.
“An apology would be amazing, for myself and my family, my parents,” she said.
“So I could move forward.”
And she has a message for any young players and their families about the warning signs to watch out for.
“That special attention [or] being singled out, especially in a team kind of environment,” she said.
“If it doesn’t feel right and if someone is telling you to lie about something.
“It’s something that is very difficult to get out of, once it’s started.”
* Karen has chosen not to include her surname in this story.
