Bail for man accused of driving getaway car in Bondi attack

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A man accused of supplying the getaway car in the horrific bloodied attack on a man with nail-studded baseball bats at Bondi Beach has been granted bail.

Police allege Belal Shmait, 32, owned the white Mercedes with obscured registration plates used in the attack by a gang who inflicted a vicious beating on a man in February this year.

It was alleged he disposed of his vehicle soon after the attack in which at least four men were allegedly involved.

Following the attack, Bondi Rescue star Bruce ‘Hoppo’ Hopkins told news.com.au that “It wasn’t a random attack”.

“A male was sitting on North Bondi hill and a group of males got out of a white Mercedes and had baseball bats with nails in the bats and started hitting him,” Mr Hopkins said.

“It all went mad.”

Following the brutal attack, which occurred around 1.15pm at Bidigal Reserve, North Bondi on February 17 this year, the men raced back to their car.

The victim Michael Nicholas, 33, stumbled down to the promenade, where he was treated by lifesavers.

Lifeguard Anthony ‘Harries’ Carroll treated Mr Nicholas at the scene and he was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital in an ambulance for X-rays with gashes to his head.

In footage of the attack obtained by 7 News, the men are heard shouting, “Come here!” as they chase after Mr Nicholas and beat him with their weapons on the grassy area at North Bondi.

Mr Nicholas was reportedly sitting with a woman at the time but she had gone by the time lifeguards arrived.

Bail for man accused of driving getaway car in Bondi attack
The victim is helped after the attack in North Bondi in February.Source:Supplied

“I saw a guy being beaten with some sort of object,” ice cream vendor Chris O’Neill told the cameras. “Everybody was screaming and shouting and there was chaos.

Mr Shmait and four other men have been charged over the incident.

In the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, Belal Shmait appeared by audio visual link from prison.

The prosecutor told the court that Mr Shmait had been arrested and bail refused last month, and that the getaway car was “not unlike the car he used and disposed of soon after the event”.

But despite an extensive record in traffic offences, Mr Shmait had no history of crimes of violence.

A large cash deposit of $200,000 was offered and bail was granted on the condition that he live with his parents in western Sydney and report daily to police.

Justice Stephen Campbell ordered Mr Shmait surrender his passport and avoid airports.

Online Source: www.news.com.au

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