Gunmen jailed for 34 years for killing gangland figure

Two men who gunned down Melbourne gangland figure Gavin Preston have been jailed for 34 years for the callous murder.

Jaeden Tito, 25, and Rabii Zahabe, 26, looked ahead and up at the court ceiling on Tuesday morning as Victorian Supreme Court Justice Michael O’Connell handed down their sentences.

The pair had denied they were the masked shooters who stormed Preston, 50, at a Keilor cafe in Melbourne’s northwest on September 9, 2023.

CCTV footage showed Preston and his friend Abbas Maghnie sitting outside Sweet Lulus cafe when two men dressed in black jumped out of a car and fired shots.

Preston was fatally struck while Maghnie was also hit by a single bullet but survived.

Police believe the attack on Preston was a planned underworld contract killing and intelligence reports suggested he had amassed a number of enemies.

At trial, Tito and Zahabe argued detectives charged the wrong men and they were not the shooters.

But a jury in May found them guilty of murder after three days of deliberations.

Justice O’Connell on Tuesday described the killing as a “ruthless and callous disregard for human life” as he sentenced the pair.

“This was a contract killing,” the judge said.

“The degree of planning and sophistication was of the highest order.“

Zahabe will be eligible for parole after 27 years, while Tito will be eligible after 26 years.