Stephen Gibbs for Daily Mail Australia This is my opinion, sir, believe me on my babys life. But the relationship went through a rocky patch in 1985 when Hakim gave permission for certain men to put gaming machines into an ethnic club. Bill Bayeh pleaded guilty to assaulting intensive care nurse Leanne Nesbitt The Kings Cross identity got into a heated argument with her early last year Bayeh allegedly made a threat. Theres corruption going on in every section where you could do somebody a good turn or a bad turn. Hit the names to obtain what you want to know. We used to do taekwondo together. Ms Nesbitt feared for her safety and called police. And that flag should be saluted any time. It takes time and a lot of thought.. I didnt want to be there at one stage.. Called to give evidence about his relationship with police and criminals including Bayeh, Staunton refused to speak and was jailed for contempt. John moved out of the Parramatta home he shared with his mother, his brothers and his sisters four years ago. Russell Townsend, described in Royal Commission evidence as an alleged drug dealer, is a friend and gym partner. S03:E03 - Kingdom Come . It primarily depicts the organized crimes in Kings Cross and the police corruption leading up to the 1995 Wood Royal Commission. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. ', Long-time friend and former Kings Cross nightclub boss John Ibrahim sums up Staunton on the book's cover: 'When Charlie's good he's great. The 60-year-old is the 'good bloke' of the title and says he lives by two simple rules: Loyalty is everything, and what is morally right and what is legal are not always the same thing. This had hardly ever happened before there was an unwritten law among Sydneys criminals that family was to be kept out of business disputes. Forget Melrose Place, the Royal Commission is a better soapie, he grins. 'I do not have a thousand morals,' Staunton writes on page one of The Good Bloke. New King's Cross beat constable, Wendy Jones, quickly crosses paths with John Ibrahim and the attraction is mutual. Later, John hitches up his T-shirt to reveal his smooth, hairless abdomen. Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. Later that shift Staunton was told to drive several drunk constables to nearby Moore Park where his colleagues stormed into a toilet block wielding their truncheons at 'poofters'. Corrupt King's Cross detectives Trevor Haken and Jim Egan go too far when arresting a pack of drunks, sparking calls for a royal commission into the NSW Police. He hated it. Under the bond for the Ms Nesbitt incident, Bayeh must continue psychological treatment for a year, Magistrate Graeme Curran told Downing Centre Local Court, noting both matters were at the lower end of seriousness. Billy Bayeh was talking to Trevor Haken because he knows I have the respect in the Cross to wipe them out. Respect and a cache of favours awaiting repayment. 'The corrections staff had no idea at all, not a clue, and the frustrations of many a long-serving inmate were relieved.'. Were working to restore it. I'm not ashamed of anything I've done. Staunton had been secretly recorded handing money to the corrupt cop Trevor Haken on behalf of Bayeh and spent the next 11 and a half months in prison. John is dismissive about the context in which his relationships with colourful Kings Cross identities are viewed. Sydney's Kings Cross identity Bill Bayeh, 58, has been fined $1,500 He was unaware of the ban from Star Casino when he entered the venue His lawyer on Wednesday told court the businessman was. A JP had to sign the warrant necessary for a raid on suspected illegal gaming premises. John lives here with the Tunnels restaurant manager, who was first employed as a kitchen hand at the club after moving from China to Australia six years ago. The Republican-led House on Wednesday gave initial approval to the legislation. He was arrested in 1996 after giving evidence at the Wood Royal Commission into police corruption. Convicted cocaine dealer Bill Bayeh and his brother Louie are old friends of the family. They were assisted in this by new laws, such as those enabling them to seize assets that were the proceeds of crime, and institutions, such as the New South Wales Crime Commission (which had been created in 1986), which unlike the police can force people to give evidence. Mr Ibrahim also alleges Mr Domican opened his coat to display his gun while telling associates he would "take care" of a rival drug dealer on a Saturday night in 1993. Bayeh was a major player in the Kings Cross drugs scene during the 1990s. Yet in his own surroundings, the streets of Kings Cross, John is charming. 9NEWS reports the 56-year-old reportedly became involved in a heated argument with Leanne Nesbitt, now an intensive care nurse, outside St Vincent's Hospital last night at about 6.30pm. He extended his criminal activities and eventually became known as the Lebanese godfather. The wars over but the wars still inside the people. Police unions have rallied around Missouri Senate Bill 78, which would reinstate a Civil War-era system of state oversight. That way you can train whoevers in your room to do it, she responds with a smile. ELECTION WRAP. In Kings Cross because there were so many people there was a bigger majority. Former policeman and private detective Charlie Staunton, jailed by the Royal Commission for refusing to answer questions about his relationship with Bill Bayeh, is another close friend with whom he has travelled. John has only been to his parents country of birth, Lebanon, once. Later that year Detective Inspector Tony Lauer led a raid on Hakims Redfern office and found just over a gram of heroin on Hakims person. After almost a decade working in Kings Cross, the startling revelations of graft, corruption, drug dealing and prostitution are like office gossip to John. You get an education at school but it doesnt help you when youre out dealing with people. Missouri's governor would once again have control over St. Louis police under a bill advancing in the state House. Kim Hollingsworth organises a strip show for a police charity. Staunton, who was in the Parramatta and NSW police rugby league teams, knew most of the Bandidos and some of the Comanchero from playing football against them. According to a defence lodged by Mr Ibrahim in November, Mr Domican - who had an attempted murder conviction overturned by the High Court - was in the "very frequent company" of Bill Bayeh in 1993 and 1994, "when he was eating, drinking, walking around and conducting business in the Kings Cross area". But she then stopped and turned to confront him about comments hed made some weeks earlier, sparking an argument that was recorded on her phone. And sorry for the victims Ive caused trouble to.. Bill has 1 job listed on their profile. Sydney was founded by criminals who for years formed a majority of its population. Pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply commercial quantities of cocaine and heroin in 1995 and 1996. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. Sydneys very small. The relationship with Bill Bayeh was severed on the day John appeared before the Commission and heard a conversation between supergrass Trevor Haken and Bayeh, taped at Birkenhead Point Tavern in December 1994. 'The Ten Commandments are a reference point, and thus my life is not complicated, no matter how hard I have tried to make it so. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Successful criminals who were not arrested often died. Mayor Jones said the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department wrote more than 8,000 speeding tickets and 2,700 for signal violations, but said the city had to do more to hold reckless drivers accountable, which is why the city is looking to bring back red light cameras. The balcony gives way to a vista encompassing Sydney Heads and a massive expanse of deep blue ocean. Thats what I think. Bill and Louis Bayeh fight off threats to their drug dealing empire. Bram and Manfred had never told Staunton the details of their business but US and Canandian authorities alleged they had trafficked 25 tonnes of Pakistani hashish worth about $1billion. After leaving school John began working in Kings Cross at the Tunnel Cabaret nightclub. St. Louis police gather at the scene of a shooting in the 1800 block of Cass Avenue on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, where police say a man was shot in the chest. In a recorded interview, Bayeh admitted to a confrontation but denied pushing her or saying anything about a vibrator or dildo. Running a club is perfect for that sort of thing, but its not for me. SYDNEY nightclub owner John Ibrahim was very young when he gave this first revealing interview. Violence increased partly because of the nature of the drug trade, and partly because the degree of stability once provided in the underworld by the involvement of corrupt police largely disappeared. I put everything we made back into the club. At a nearby table comedian Vince Sorrenti is shouting to a group of workmen performing noisy roadwork. If Mr Domican is found to be entitled to any damages, Mr Ibrahim argues they should be minimised by his "bad reputation", among other factors. I want to move on with my life. What else am I going to do? he laughs. 'My life has been a bit more interesting than most,' Staunton writes. It was at Baron's that Staunton impressed billionaire television mogul Kerry Packer with the hospitality he extended one evening to his visiting polo team. All times AEDT (GMT +11). 'You Australians are a hard lot,' Trump said to him. No one really knew that I didnt know what I was doing, except me.. Another hobby is jetskiing. Staunton's playboy lifestyle came to a halt with his defiant appearance before the Wood Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service in June 1995. However, Haken and Egan, along with drug dealer Bill Bayeh, set up an elaborate "sting" for their own profit. Im going to shove a dildo up your arse, he allegedly said. His establishments included the Lasers amusement parlour, Porky's strip club, the Penthouse snooker room and the Cosmopolitan cafe - most of which were used as drug distribution centres - as well as brothels and shops across the western suburbs. He asks Haken to do something about it because I aint making nothing. The team stuffed backpacks with meals to tide children over the weekend . ST. LOUIS - The city of St. Louis will invest more than $60 million to try to make streets and sidewalks safer. Bananas, they go off very quick.. He is vehement when he says he does not deal drugs. Chief Inspector Dennis Kelly applies to enter the National Crime Authority in order to improve his resume in the race for police commissioner. Bill Bayeh was jailed for 15 years for drug trafficking in the 1990s.Credit:Nick Moir. The employees would be responsible for any charges the police laid. Various prohibitions have caused many citizens to engage in criminal behaviour over the subsequent years, most commonly illegal gambling and drinking. With help from drug king Bill Bayeh and his crew, Det. Aware that he is being investigated by the Wood Royal Commission, Dennis Kelly dobs in Jim Egan to investigators. Bill Bayeh leaving the Wood Royal Commission after his arrest for supplying drugs. Trevor Haken's alcoholism takes a toll on his marriage and his ability to manage police corruption. One reason is that energetic and ambitious men who have difficulty obtaining legitimate opportunities turn to illegal ones. After being released from jail, Bayeh initially indicated he was interested in opening a fruit shop. In the course of them doing their job theyve got to stickybeak everywhere, he says. Bill Bayeh was jailed for 15 years for drug trafficking in the 1990s.Nick Moir Mr Ibrahim also alleges Mr Domican opened his coat to display his gun while telling associates he would "take care" of a rival drug dealer on a Saturday night in 1993. We looked like Martians. Thats always kept me out of trouble the majority of the time.. It turned out McPherson already had a direct relationship with the club, and sent a group of men to throw the new machines into the street. People just dont want to go there. Hed been cruising its streets since he was a schoolboy, piling into a car with a group of friends looking for action. Danny Karam, a nightclub bouncer who later became one of Bayeh's standover men, remembered that Bayeh was so broke in 1991 he was forced to ask him for $50. Johns club The Tunnel is still in chaos after more than a month of renovations but he remains optimistic. More than once he was cut by the teachers cane. View Bill Bayeh's profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. Bayeh was a major player in the Kings Cross drugs scene during the 1990s. As a young constable Charlie Staunton dreamed of one day becoming commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force. Not content with his position, Kassab begins distributing drugs secretly. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Traffic violence tears families and communities apart and to those who say that they feel scared on our roads: I hear you, Jones said. Youve got a tape going, havent ya? Bayeh then jumped from his seat, according to the facts presented at the court. Erin Molan defamation claim back in court, Bombshell for MP accused of child sex abuse. John is out on the balcony bantering with his female assistant, a longtime friend. You need a vibrator up your arse, Bayeh responded. Staunton writes of visits to Sha Tin races in Hong Kong, Royal Ascot in England and regular Sunday night card games with identities including then rugby league coach Phil Gould. The 55-year-old sat, seemingly impassive, as his fate was decided, mumbling a barely audible ''thank you, God bless you'' as Judge Terence Christie of the NSW Parole Authority granted him parole after 15 years behind bars. Back before the Ibrahims had seriously staked their claim and the Wood Royal Commission exposed the corruption riddling the King Cross police command, Bill Bayeh was ''Billy the Boss''. Its a remarkable return to form for the Golden Mile, now run by Bayehs former driver John Ibrahim. Weve got so many favours owing to us weve lost count.. In it Bayeh alleges that Russell (Townsend), Sam Ibrahim and John: They got the whole street. He received compensation for his injuries but will not say how much, just that it wasnt a lot. While behind bars Staunton secured protection from Canadian bikies through his old friend Felix Lyle and managed to regularly speak on the phone to Bayeh, who was in an Australian prison. You cant not be there and see whats going on. On both levels of the house the curtains are drawn across the windows. I want to be left alone. 'On the whole, I loved most of my decade in the New South Wales Police Force,' he writes. "How is branch stacking relevant to gang wars? However, Louis Bayeh uses his own police contacts to successfully oppose bail for the duo, causing Kassab to look like a liar. Within a day of arriving in the city he found himself in the Ifield Hotel in Fulham where the first person he met was Howard Marks, one of the most notorious drug smugglers in the world. 2023's Most Anticipated Sequels, Prequels, and Spin-offs. Marks, known as 'Mr Nice', asked Staunton to join him at a table with Freddie Foreman, an old crook sometimes called the godfather of British crime. Smart and casual, he exudes a faint air of wealth. The lounge room, covered in thick white carpet, is clean but untidy, giving the impression of an archetypal boys house. Louis Bayeh Managing Director & Founder at Hills Auto Centre Toongabbie, New South Wales, Australia 40 followers 39 connections Join to connect Hills Auto Centre Marist Brother's Parramatta. In 1999 Bayeh was the subject of an attempted assassination outside a restaurant in Narwee. Everyones miserable. Bayeh was arrested in 1996 for dealing heroin and cocaine from the once-notorious Cosmopolitan Cafe in Kings Cross. What they do for their living and what they do for their business is none of my business. It would allow the governor to appoint "a special . I want to be left alone. It cost me $70,000 to buy 20 per cent. In a statement of claim filed last year, the Irish-born former political and building industry figure claims Mr Ibrahim's book implies he "was willing to be hired to kill people other than the Ibrahims"; "is a violent criminal who took part in gang wars"; conducted illegal gambling; and was involved in the supply of heroin. Sergeant Jim Egan and Trevor Haken devise a plan to swindle money from the federal police. The at-times vicious NSW parliament bear pit is headed for extinction, with a victorious Gladys Berejiklian vowing to clean up the chamber and apply higher standards to the states politicians; the Premiers secret campaign weapon; Labor and Liberal campaigns analysed; and, how the NSW result works in the PMs favour. The green tracksuited figure then stood, turned and was led back to his cell to serve the remaining 19 days before he was officially eligible for release. If you're a friend of mine you're there forever.'. After a shooting in a cafe, Trevor strikes a deal with Bill Bayeh to control police raids and competition in King's Cross - Bayeh gets the "Green light" from Trevor to sell drugs, providing he does not sell to minors and there are no more drug-related shootings in the Cross. He took charge of $23million in Montreal and ferried $1million through Turkey into Pakistan wearing spray tan and a dark wig. An old, sloping billiard table is the living rooms centrepiece, closed in on two sides by leather couches. I deserve a second chance it is the Australian way.. The Reverend Fred Nile described him in parliament as Mr Fixit, an acknowledgement of the power he had acquired through his vast range of contacts in the Lebanese community, the police force, and elsewhere. Judge Christie noted the Commissioner's opposition, but said the Probation and Parole Service and the Serious Offenders Review Council supported Bayeh's release. Like most organised criminals in the modern era, they focussed on selling drugs, although standing over other drug dealers and car re-birthing were also popular. I bluffed well for a long time when I was 18. In 1987 Hakim was gaoled for six and a half years for his involvement in bribing Corrective Services Minister Rex Jackson to release prisoners early. Believe it or not I did very well at school but it just wasnt for me. Thats where you belong, John says. Parole authority orders he not gamble, or frequent the Kings Cross area. The Good Bloke by Charles Staunton is published by Pan Macmillan and is available from Tuesday, July 23, for $32.99. John Ibrahim's book, Last King of the Cross. Bayeh didnt react as he was also given a $400 fine for hindering police. Ten years ago Kings Cross was the only suburb open late. I thought "I'm going to save the world - this is great - I can be a superhero here".'. Instead of learning how to read books, youve got learn how to read people and see what they want from you. Youll find we are very boring. On Monday, Missouri senators held a hearing on a bill to remove some of Gardner's authority. Staunton writes of helping solve problems for drug dealers Bill Bayeh, who distributed cocaine and heroin in Kings Cross, and international trafficker Bruce 'Snapper' Cornwell. Mr Ibrahim alleges Mr Domican has a reputation among "members of the Australian general public over the age of 35", NSW Police and the legal community, the building industry, and the pubs and clubs industry as a violent criminal, a standover man, and an associate of underworld figures. All you need to do is get your foot in the door, John says. They were abandoned after the Missouri Supreme Court cited constitutional and due process questions. We eat at the same places and we go to the same clubs, he says. I have always stayed away from the drugs and the gambling and prostitution. He pleaded guilty to the hindrance charge earlier this month, while prosecutors dropped a second charge of resisting police. 'I've accepted everything I've done in life. Could this really be a coincidence? /news/article/bill-bayeh-arrested-after-nurse-assault/l48mi2g48 A friend embarks on a monologue about the imprudence of talking to the press and John quiets him with a simple Thatll do. 'I just wanted to get straight into it. John believes the shockwaves caused by the Commission have only just begun. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. He is based in London and expects to live until he his 100. However, his paranoia is justified as he discovers the Commission has a lot of incriminating evidence against him. It is pretty interesting, especially given his history here.. 'I'm a happy man,' the grandfather-of-four says. He drove a prison van to and from court for a year when the Bandido and Comanchero gangs faced trial for the 1984 Milperra massacre, at which six bikies and a teenage girl were killed. In the first part of the interlocutory hearing, barrister Dauid Sibtain, acting for Mr Ibrahim and Pan Macmillan, said Mr Domican's answers to questions about ALP branch stacking in a 1984 BBC interview supported the inferences of criminality in his clients' book. Its money thats all accounted for. I dont believe in drugs, he says. The sun is shining and John is sparkling with good humour. Please try again later. Good cops, bad cops, strippers, gamblers, gunmen, dealers, bouncers, dreamers and bagmen. Smalltime bouncer Benny Kassab has an audacious plan to become King of the Cross. I think this place is like every other place, I dont see any difference., Of his time in prison, he said: I wasnt treated very human 15 years in jail. His principal once told him he would wind up dead or very rich. You cant not have a relationship with coppers and own a business. But a group always has a dominant personality.. I know everyone involved in the nightclub industry and they all know me. Even his late nights out are not wild ones, says John. Its all who you know. Staunton was born in the back of a taxi on London's Fulham Palace Road in 1958 and moved to Australia with his Irish Catholic family when he was seven. He paid police to protect at least 24 gaming clubs and often entertained police officers. In London the pair jumped the queue to get into Wimbledon when Ibrahim bought tickets for the 16 tennis fans behind them. A fruit vendor gives him two nectarines for free. 'The money, the travel and the adventure had all been thrilling. On that occasion, Bayeh was accused of tearing up a handwritten drug code when he was searched by police outside the same coffee shop. 2015 Sydney Crime Museum. Bayeh, 56, was allegedly involved in an argument with Mr Edelsten's ex-wife Leanne Nesbitt, who is a nurse at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney. ST. LOUIS - The City of St. Louis is making its largest investment in road and pedestrian safety. The Independent Commission Against Corruption rejected the claim, and Bob Bottom pointed out at the time that the detectives accused by Hakim were in the vanguard of anti-corruption efforts. Impressed by Ibrahim, Freeman offers him a job as a bouncer. In every station you get two or three corrupt coppers. I have worked with some pretty funny people. 23:42 GMT 22 Jul 2019 One of his bouncer colleagues there was Felix Lyle, who would later become a Bandidos and Hells Angels boss. Long-time observers of the Cross say it was typical of the shameless bravado Bayeh then projected as he cruised the famous red-light district. He was recorded instructing one of his standover men to tell a fellow drug dealer, Russell Townsend, that he ''cannot sell the nose thing any more and if he will not he will get a beating'' and warning another that there would be ''big bang bang soon''. ST. LOUISOn the heels of one of the most deadly years for traffic in the history of the city of St. Louis and a weekend that saw five people killed in a pair of traffic accidents, Mayor Tishaura Jones on Wednesday signed a board bill that commits to spending at least $40 million in federal funds on traffic calming and street redesign measures. Between those opposite ends of the law Staunton found himself somewhere in the middle as a private investigator and problem-solver for Sydney's underworld. March 1, 2023, at 7:17 p.m. Missouri Governor Would Control St. Louis Police Under Bill. He will be under as much scrutiny as anyone who runs that type of business in the Cross., Another Kings Cross detective added: We have been waiting for him to come up here when his parole conditions finished maybe for a coffee or something. Some nights John goes fishing off the rocks. The argument erupted after intensive care nurse Leanne Nesbitt passed Bayeh on her way to work at St Vincents Hospital about 6.40pm on a Sunday in February 2015. It's being paid for with the American Rescue Plan Fund. As his drug operation grew, Bayeh and his family indulged in the good life. The Police Royal Commission and the substantial reforms that followed it stopped most corruption, making police more effective against organised criminals than in the past. Learn More. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. ''It is not every day the Serious Offenders Review Council recommends that the parole authority consider the release of a serious offender at the first eligible date,'' he said. Thats the business were in. He died in 2005, and over 400 people attended his funeral at Redfern. The expansion of the Bayeh drug empire led to a push to remove small drug dealers off the streets. I dont need to tell anyone how I got them. On his rise as a businessman in Kings Cross, John is more forthcoming. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. Bayeh, 56, who was portrayed in Underbelly: The Golden Mile, spent 15 years in prison for cocaine and heroin trafficking. One belongs to John, the other to a friend. ''It is clear from a number of remarks made by the sentencing judge that the sentence was intended to be punitive rather than rehabilitative,'' Judge Christie said. He and a colleague had recovered a BMW stolen from television host Kerri-Anne Kennerley and then used to steal six dozen bottles of Scotch which were hidden in the boot. Wrongfully jailed for two weeks in 2012 when authorities mistakenly believed he breached parole by travelling to north Queensland. FORMER Kings Cross underworld identity Bill Bayeh has walked out of Sydney's Silverwater jail . In 2001, he was sentenced to another three years after pleading guilty to demanding money with menaces from two brothel keepers and for supplying cocaine and heroin. After spending the previous night watching videos with friends, John is in a buoyant mood. Kim Hollingsworth is expelled from the Goulburn Academy for failing to disclose her work as a prostitute. A telescope is trained on the water. The hearing has been adjourned to May 14. He bought a $525,000 house in Gladesville, spent tens of thousands of dollars on luxury goods and showered his wife, Tanya Michael, with overseas trips and expensive gifts. His only regret is the time he spent away from his two sons, Danial and Timothy. Louis Bayeh swears revenge on Benny Kassab's boys Shaka and Norm Korbage for shooting up his house. Never speak to me on the street. Many of those who came after Louis Bayeh did not last so long. It is crisscrossed with scars. I did what I did and I accept what I did. Mr Domican is suing Mr Ibrahim and his publisher Pan Macmillan Australia for damages in the Federal Court over his best-selling 2017 memoir, Last King of the Cross, claiming the tell-all book wrongly paints him as a hitman, violent criminal and a drug dealer. Pan Macmillan's defence claims it could also be inferred Mr Domican was a violent criminal from a 2002 conviction in Western Australia after he pleaded guilty to threatening to break the neck of a police officer. Bayehs business partner and the venues licensee Tania Eve, who he has known for more than 30 years, was equally as vigilant on illegal behaviour, describing Love Machine as a cabaret and burlesque gentlemans club. Sydney Crime Museum is an online history of crime in Sydney, which has often affected the lives of ordinary people and popular culture as well as corrupting the processes of policing, justice and government. His defence claims that, in about 1997, following Bill Bayeh's arrest on drug charges, for which he was ultimately jailed for 15 years, Louis Bayeh continued to take payments for "protecting" strip clubs and other businesses in the area. Mayor Tishaura Jones . John is still smarting from the cuff across the ears doled out by the Commission when he was hauled into the St James Centre in October to answer questions about his Kings Cross connections. He is also talking about the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service and the heavy toll it has exacted from Sydneys red light district. We went to state level.. Can you turn it up a little, he jokes above the laughter of his friends. Of his now-shelved fruit shop plans, he said: It didnt happen. He was shot three times but survived. So it would seem, but no, I am not, came Johns cocky reply. It was difficult to believe that the greying, gaunt-faced man staring out from the audio-visual room at Silverwater Prison yesterday was the same one who once treated the streets of Kings Cross as his personal domain. Staunton was adept at solving legal problems for his associates and became well-known on the Sydney nightclub and music scene. Staunton still works in security, hospitality and logistics and as a bodyguard to A-list celebrities. Staunton was first stationed at inner-city Redfern where he witnessed policing practices which quickly made him question his choice of employment. Id like to think (Im a good judge of character) but then everybody thinks they know something about something.