Sydney men flew to Perth to attack: court

Four Sydney men flew to Perth for the sole purpose of severely bashing a man who owed them cash for drugs, leaving him incapable of providing evidence at their trial, a court has heard.

Gary Visanich was found badly beaten and unconscious in Centenary Park in Bentley about 6am (WST) on November 23, 2011.

The following month, brothers Cyrill and Serj Mansour, Andy Mannah and Niraj Singh were arrested in Sydney after police listened into phone calls, searched their homes and read text messages.

They were charged with grievous bodily harm with intent to maim, disfigure or disable, and detaining with intent to gain benefit.

Another man from Perth, Stanley William James Nicholls, was charged with being an accessory. He is accused of driving Mr Visanich to the park where he was dumped next to rubbish bins.

At the start of the trial in Perth on Tuesday, prosecutor Sean O'Sullivan told the jury Cyril Mansour had sent the victim increasingly threatening text messages in the days before the attack, warning him there would be consequences if he did not repay his debt.

"You have taken me for a fool one too many times," one text read.

"You begged me to hold my mates off. You've got one hour," another read.

"Watch how I turn it up to the next level," a later text read, warning that he and his friends would pursue Mr Visanich "like a pack of wild lions chasing their prey".

Mr O'Sullivan said that within hours of the victim missing his payment deadline, the four men flew to Perth and confronted him at a Bentley home where he was staying as the guest of a friend, Nicole Stokes.

Frightened for her children upstairs, she went to them, but heard Mr Visanich crying out and the sound of someone being hit, Mr O'Sullivan said.

He added that only the DNA of Singh had been found in Ms Stokes's house, suggesting the men had asked her for gloves, which as a part-time tattoo artist, she had and provided.

But Serj Mansour's defence lawyer, Jonathan Davies, said the case would come down to her "believability", claiming she was a long-term drug manufacturer and dealer protected by an outlaw motorcycle gang, and a "false witness" who misled police.

Mr Davies said the wrong men had been charged due to an incomplete investigation that did not properly examine the possibility of other culprits.

Singh's defence lawyer, Simon Watters, said Ms Stokes was "up to her neck" with the Rebels bikie gang, and cooked methamphetamine for them.

"It's the front door of that organisation that the police should have gone knocking," Mr Watters said.

The jury was shown a photo of the victim in hospital with black eyes, burns on his torso and tubes in his face and neck.

They were also told his injuries included facial swelling and fractures, lacerations and cigarette burns on his body, and there was evidence of renal failure.

Due to memory loss, Mr Visanich cannot give evidence.

The trial continues.