Arian Maftari: University student accused of murdering Mahmoud Karam seeking bail to live with parents

A university student accused of killing an underworld figure in a public shootout is suffering from PTSD after the “life-threatening incident”. Arian Miftari, 21, was charged with murder after arriving at a Melbourne hospital with alleged gunshot wounds in the hours after Mahmoud Karam, 60, was shot dead last December. Police allege Mr Miftari and a co-accused lay in wait outside a Campbellfield home in the evening of December 20 before shooting at Mr Karam with two firearms. It’s further alleged that despite being shot in the back first, Mr Karam returned fire and injured both of his assailants. The RMIT construction and management student returned before the Supreme Court of Victoria on Tuesday to continue a bail application. He is seeking to be released to live with his parents, with his father offering up more than $1m in his home’s equity as a surety. Through his lawyers, Mr Miftari has argued his young age, lack of priors, supportive family and “horrendous” conditions in prison justify his release from custody. The court was told psychologist Gina Cidone had written a report about the accused man, diagnosing him with post traumatic stress disorder and somatic symptom disorder. In the report, Ms Cidoni said Mr Miftari’s PTSD arose “directly from the events of December 20” when he was “exposed to a life-threatening incident involving ballistic injury”. Mr Miftari, the court was told, had spent months in hospital with injuries to his leg, upper body, elbow and arm after the alleged gunfight. His barrister Dermot Dann KC said there was evidence his client’s time in custody had been “dire”, with him locked alone in a cell for at least 23 hours a day and having difficulty accessing medication and medical attention. Mr Dann said Mr Miftari’s mental health had been deteriorating and was likely to get even worse if he remained in custody, according to Ms Cidone’s report. The court was told it was alleged Mr Miftari had made threats to light a fire after not receiving his medication on November 30 and had once told someone in a recorded prison call he would “injure someone in prison to be transferred to Barwon where the conditions are better”. Prosecutors have argued Mr Miftari failed to reach the threshold justifying bail but, if he did, he posed an unacceptable risk to the community and fleeing the jurisdiction. Crown prosecutor Kristie Churchill KC said it was alleged there was a firearm that remained at large from the shooting. “This case has some of the hallmarks of an underworld execution,” she said. The court was told police allegedly found a triple-barrel shotgun linked to the co-accused and a semiautomatic pistol linked to Mr Karam at the scene, but the slain man had gunshot wounds from a third firearm. Ms Churchill argued that while Mr Miftari’s care in prison might not be to a “perfect standard”, the evidence was that he was receiving appropriate care from a multidisciplinary team. Called to give evidence earlier this month, homicide squad Detective Senior Constable Monica Allen said police allegedly held intelligence that Mr Karam’s killing was perpetrated on behalf of the Hamad syndicate. Police have previously alleged in court the Hamad syndicate is involved in the illicit tobacco trade in Victoria and the firebombing of rival stores, headed by overseas-based Kaz Hamad. But under questioning by Mr Dann, Constable Allen declined to say what evidence police held that linked Mr Miftari to the Hamad syndicate. The court was told this was the subject of an ongoing public interest immunity claim – a legal doctrine allowing the state to withhold information on the grounds it would be harmful to the public interest. Mr Dann argued the decision on Mr Miftari’s bail should not come down to “untestable evidence” coming from Victoria Police, suggesting it was an “insult to the right of liberty”. “It’s like me saying I have intelligence in the prison system this man is being tortured every day, would that cut the mustard?” he questioned. “Because it’s the police doesn’t give it some greater status.” Justice Andrew Tinney is expected to hand down a decision on bail on Christmas Eve.