updated

Two men tortured with hammer before shot in Proctor Way, Claymore, arrests in Thirlmere, Oran Park, Eagle Vale

Ben McClellan
The Nightly
Two men were found with gunshot wounds last month, one at a shop and one in a park.

Police have described a gang which botched the alleged attempted execution of two men as acting “almost like an Airtasker for violent criminals”.

The two victims were allegedly tortured with a hammer before being shot — one of them in the head — in a Western Sydney park.

Four men have been charged over the attack which police says has links to organised crime.

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The Nightly has been told by police sources the four men were allegedly hired by a large criminal network to kill the men but failed to carry out the executions properly.

Police allege the two victims, aged 29 and 30, were forced into the back of a ute at gun point on August 3 before being taken to an unknown area and tortured with a hammer, causing significant injury to the men’s hands.

They were then taken to a park in Claymore where they were shot.

The 30-year-old managed to find his way to a nearby shop, suffering a gunshot wound to his torso, where police were called.

The 29-year-old was found in a reserve on Proctor Way with gunshot wounds to his head and torso.

Paramedics rushed the pair to Liverpool Hospital — the 30-year-old in a stable condition and the 29-year-old in a critical condition.

They have both since recovered from their injuries.

Detective Superintendent Andrew Koutsoufis said an axe was also used in the allegedly brazen attack.

Drugs are believed to have been a major factor behind the allegedly cold-bloodied violence with Dept Supt Koutsoufis saying the four men charged “were acting as almost guns for hire ... almost like an Airtasker for violent criminals”.

“Only by the grace of God that both (alleged victims) survived, especially the male who was shot in the head,” he said.

Police formed Strike Force Bellshill, consisting of officers from state crime command’s Raptor Squad and Campbelltown officers, to investigate the bloody attacks.

Investigators say the alleged kidnapping, torture and shootings were targeted.

Four men have been charged over the alleged kidnapping, torture and attempted murder of two men in Western Sydney.
Four men have been charged over the alleged kidnapping, torture and attempted murder of two men in Western Sydney. Credit: NSW Police Media

Officers swooped on the men accused of carrying out the near-executions on Tuesday, with multiple search warrants carried out at homes in Claymore, Catherine Field, Bradbury, Thirlmere, Oran Park and Eagle Vale.

At the Bradbury address a 24-year-old man allegedly assaulted a police officer before being arrested. The officer did not require medical treatment.

Police also arrested a 26-year-old Oran Park man, a 23-year-old Bradbury man, a 21-year-old Claymore man and a 22-year-old Eagle Vale man.

Three of the men, aged 26, 23 and 21, were charged charged with three counts of shoot with intent to murder and among a raft of kidnapping, assault and criminal group charges.

The 22-year-old was charged with two counts kidnapping and assault linked to a criminal group.

All four men were refused bail to appear before court on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old was charged with assaulting police and resisting arrest.

He was granted bail to appear before Campbelltown Local Court on October 10.

Investigations under Strike Force Bellshill continue.

Four men have been charged over the alleged kidnapping, torture and attempted murder of two men in Western Sydney.
Four men have been charged over the alleged kidnapping, torture and attempted murder of two men in Western Sydney. Credit: NSW Police Media

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