{"id":86175,"date":"2026-09-02T14:26:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T14:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/86175\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T14:26:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T14:26:23","slug":"yousif-zrayka-siaosi-tupoulahi-trial-plot-to-kill-john-ibrahim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/86175\/","title":{"rendered":"Yousif Zrayka, Siaosi Tupoulahi trial: Plot to kill John Ibrahim"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two men are standing trial to fight allegations they conspired to kill Sydney nightclub identity John Ibrahim.<\/p>\n

Yousif Zrayka, 22, and his co-accused Siaosi Maeakafa Tupoulahi, 24, were charged with conspiring to murder the former Kings Cross night-life figure in July 2024.<\/p>\n

They have both pleaded not guilty to a string of charges including conspiring and agreeing to murder another person.<\/p>\n

In the Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday, the pair\u2019s judge-alone trial kicked off with the Crown outlining the allegations to the court. <\/p>\n

The Crown alleged in the early hours of July 25, 2024, the pair travelled in a stolen car with fake registration plates from Chester Hill in Sydney\u2019s west to Dover Heights in Sydney\u2019s east. <\/p>\n

They arrived at Dover Heights shortly after 7am and parked a short distance away from Mr Ibrahim\u2019s home, the court was told. <\/p>\n

CCTV footage captured the stolen car\u2019s movements and is expected to be played at trial. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s alleged the pair remained parked on the street for more than an hour, with Mr Zrayka in the driver\u2019s seat and Mr Tupoulahi in the passenger seat. <\/p>\n

They were both wearing all black clothing, gloves and balaclavas. <\/p>\n

About 8am, a Range Rover, with a similar appearance to Mr Ibrahim\u2019s drove away before Mr Zrayka pulled out in front of the car but then pulled over to allow it to pass, the court was told. <\/p>\n

A few seconds later another Range Rover driven by a witness in the trial who cannot be named drove by. <\/p>\n

The Crown alleges Mr Zrayka then pulled out in front of the witness and blocked the car before Mr Tupoulahi got out of the car and briefly raised a Glock pistol towards the driver. <\/p>\n

The Crown alleges the accused then got back into the stolen car, with it all captured on CCTV. <\/p>\n

The pair were stopped by police shortly afterwards following a pursuit.<\/p>\n

Mr Zrayka was arrested; however, while police attempted to arrest Mr Tupoulahi he allegedly destroyed a mobile and fled the scene. <\/p>\n

Half an hour later he was arrested by police. <\/p>\n

A search of the stolen car located two loaded firearms, two full containers of petrol, two jet lighters and a bag with rubber gloves, the court was told. <\/p>\n

Police also found keys to three other stolen cars. <\/p>\n

In total, the criminal enterprise involved six stolen and mostly high-end motor vehicles. <\/p>\n

The court was told these facts were not in dispute; however, the predominant issue of the trial is whether the Crown can prove beyond reasonable doubt the accused conspired to murder Mr Ibrahim. <\/p>\n

Mr Zrayka has pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing an unauthorised pistol and one count of using an offensive weapon in company.<\/p>\n

He has pleaded not guilty to conspiring and agreeing to murder any person and attempting to discharge a firearm with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm. <\/p>\n

Mr Tupoulahi has pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing an unauthorised pistol. <\/p>\n

He has pleaded not guilty to conspiring and agreeing to murder any person, using offensive weapon in company and attempting to discharge a firearm with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm. <\/p>\n

The trial, which is expected to span four days, continues. <\/p>\n

Read related topics:Sydney<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two men are standing trial to fight allegations they conspired to kill Sydney nightclub identity John Ibrahim. Yousif…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86176,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43929,64397,142872,41607,37496,38072,17327,47133,49413,46462,36591,136285,52223,100703,142861,142860,118604,36538,48343,142865,52227,41812,41743,142885,142886,8006,127838,64082,98980,142882,40651,22,21,201,6326,8005,142876,142878,6663,142870,1109,40471,20840,142892,142873,48934,38110,142887,40749,31488,142867,142890,142881,142869,142888,44997,42263,82287,142858,142879,142859,1293,142871,53910,13134,1047,49279,142875,142863,29132,247,142877,40460,38764,46523,39856,142884,39898,49266,37471,40475,142866,78059,37068,104197,142883,37168,103226,38893,142893,38363,71035,142874,142864,41172,8962,142880,41632,142868,142891,142862,37474,22441,142889],"class_list":["post-86175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-s-east","tag-s-home","tag-s-judge-alone-trial","tag-s-movements","tag-s-seat","tag-s-west","tag-17327","tag-47133","tag-49413","tag-7am","tag-a-bag","tag-a-few-seconds","tag-a-firearm","tag-a-glock-pistol","tag-a-mobile","tag-a-pursuit-mr-zrayka","tag-a-range-rover","tag-a-search","tag-a-short-distance","tag-a-similar-appearance","tag-a-stolen-car","tag-a-string","tag-a-witness","tag-about-8am","tag-all-black-clothing","tag-allegations","tag-an-offensive-weapon","tag-an-unauthorised-pistol","tag-another-person-in","tag-another-range-rover","tag-any-person","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-cctv","tag-cctv-footage","tag-charges","tag-chester-hill","tag-co-accused-siaosi-maeakafa-tupoulahi","tag-company","tag-company-he","tag-court","tag-details","tag-dispute","tag-dover-heights","tag-fake-registration-plates","tag-four-days","tag-front","tag-gloves-and-balaclavas","tag-grievous-bodily-harm","tag-guns","tag-half-an-hour-later","tag-his-co-accused-siaosi-maeakafa-tupoulahi","tag-ibrahim-plot","tag-john-ibrahim","tag-july-2024-they","tag-july-25","tag-keys","tag-more-than-an-hour","tag-mr-ibrahim","tag-mr-tupoulahi","tag-mr-zrayka","tag-newswire-court","tag-offensive-weapon","tag-one-count","tag-petrol","tag-police","tag-reasonable-doubt","tag-rubber-gloves","tag-six-stolen-and-mostly-high-end-motor-vehicles","tag-stolen-cars","tag-sydney","tag-sydney-nightclub-identity-john-ibrahim","tag-the-accused","tag-the-allegations","tag-the-car","tag-the-court","tag-the-criminal-enterprise","tag-the-crown","tag-the-downing-centre-district-court","tag-the-driver","tag-the-early-hours","tag-the-former-kings-cross-night-life-figure","tag-the-intent","tag-the-pair","tag-the-passenger-seat","tag-the-predominant-issue","tag-the-scene","tag-the-stolen-car","tag-the-street","tag-the-sydney-identity","tag-the-trial","tag-the-witness","tag-these-facts","tag-three-other-stolen-cars","tag-total","tag-trial","tag-two-armed-and-masked-men","tag-two-counts","tag-two-full-containers","tag-two-jet-lighters","tag-two-loaded-firearms","tag-two-men","tag-wednesday","tag-yousif-zrayka"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}