Friends console Tony Mokbel's daughter and ex-wife with sweets and flowers after the notorious drug lord survives brush with death in brutal jailhouse stabbing
- Tony Mokbel walked past prisoner's birthday party when he was 'stabbed'
- One of his alleged attackers was the 'birthday boy' and is of Islander descent
- Two inmates were earlier charged over the alleged stabbing of Tony Mokbel
- His stepdaughter says he is a 'soldier' and will survive brutal jail yard attack
- Drug lord, 53, was allegeldy stabbed at Victoria's Barwon Prison on Monday
The family of jailed drug lord Tony Mokbel are consoling each other as he recovers in hospital after being stabbed behind bars.
Mokbel was allegedly ambushed by a group of Pacific Islanders and stabbed in the upper body in the yard of Victoria's Barwon Prison on Monday afternoon.
His ex-wife Carmel DeLorenzo and daughter Susan were seen with a friend outside the family's home in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Tony Mokbel's ex-wife Carmel DeLorenzo and daughter Susan were seen outside the family's home in Melbourne on Wednesday (pictured: Susan in the leopard print gown and a friend)
Drug kingpin Mokbel (pictured in 2007) was allegedly ambushed by a group of Pacific Islanders and stabbed and stomped
Susan carried a bouquet of flowers and a cardboard box from well-wishers to help ease the stress of Mokbel's severe injuries.
Mother and daughter stood outside and chatted to a friend in a white jumper who had come to give them her best.
Susan last year spoke of growing up in the household of one of the nation's most wanted criminals, who was finally jailed for at least 22 years in 2012.
'I don't think it was different at all... define most childhoods growing up?' Ms Mokbel told Daily Mail Australia in June.
Mokbel and Ms DeLorenzo married when he was in his early 20s and the couple had two children - a son Sajih, and Susan.
A friend arrived to the home with a bouquet of flowers and cardboard box to help ease the stress of Mokbel's severe injuries (pictured: unknown friend and Susan right)
Susan last year spoke of growing up in the household of one of the nation's most wanted criminals, who was finally jailed for at least 22 years in 2012 (pictured: Susan's unknown friend)
After moving to Australia with his family in the mid-1970s, he established himself as a drug kingpin by the 1980s and was soon heading up 'The Company'.
He fled Australia in 2006 and sailed to Greece where he was joined by his girlfriend Danielle McGuire. He was eventually captured in 2007.
Ms McGuire's daughter Brittany said her stepfather was tough enough to survive the alleged jail yard stabbing.
'He is fine. He is a soldier... We just want him to get better,' she told the Herald Sun on Tuesday.
Mother and daughter stood outside and chatted to a friend dressed in all black who had come to give them her best (Pictured: Susan in the grey jumper, friend in the middle and Carmel on the right)
Mokbel's family gathered as remained in the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a critical condition after undergoing emergency surgery (pictured: friend on the left, Susan in the middle and Carmel on the right)
Mokbel was reportedly walking past a 21st birthday party when he was allegedly stabbed in a prison brawl.
He had earlier been offered to move into protection, after a report he was embroiled in a feud with Islanders, but refused.
One of the two men charged is believed to be the inmate whose birthday was being celebrated, The Herald Sun reported.
He and the other 21-year-old accused will appear in Geelong Magistrates Court for a filing hearing on Friday.
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Mokbel was allegedly set upon by the group as he was returning to his cell after seeing a visitor.
Many of the 53-year-old's alleged attackers are said to have stood over and mocked him as he bled on the ground.
He was allegedly stabbed with crudely-made shivs - one of which was allegedly hidden inside a zucchini - and stomped in the head.
Mokbel remains in the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition after undergoing emergency surgery.
Mokbel was allegedly bashed and stabbed while walking past a 21st birthday party
Guards at Barwon Prison (pictured) reportedly offered Mokbel protection, which he declined
The 53-year-old gangland figure was allegedly set upon by two inmates on Monday afternoon at Victoria's Barwon Prison and airlifted to hospital (pictured)
The maximum-security prison, near Geelong, remained in lockdown following the alleged stabbing as new details about the incident emerge.
It's understood three inmates came to Mokbel's aid, where Steven Logan, 31, was also injured in the alleged attack.
Victoria Police said the injured man was released from Geelong Hospital on Tuesday morning and has since returned to Barwon Prison.
The two alleged attackers were charged with attempted murder, intentionally causing serious injury and causing serious injury intentionally in circumstances of gross violence.
Mokbel (pictured) underwent emergency surgery on Monday night following the alleged attack
Mokbel is seen in 2008 arriving at the Supreme Court in Athens, where he unsuccessfully fought his extradition to Australia
Seven News also claimed prison management knew Mokbel's life was potentially in danger, where staff were recently briefed on intelligence that an attack was likely.
A close friend of Mokbel's, who wished to remain anonymous, questioned the timing of the alleged attack.
'Tony's done several years in prison now, many years without any problems or issues and all the sudden within a few days of the Royal Commission starting, he gets attacked and viciously almost killed,' she told Seven News.
'So you've really got to wonder about the timing of this all.'
Corrections Commissioner Emma Cassar said good quality security camera footage of the alleged incident showed Mokbel walking towards a unit in the mainstream compound of the jail when he was allegedly attacked.
Brittany McGuire (pictured), 22, is the daughter of Mokbel's ex-partner Danielle
Brittany McGuire was seen on Tuesday at LA Hair & Salon in Port Melbourne as her stepfather fought for life in hospital
'He was approached by two prisoners who assaulted him, knocked him to the ground and you can see the footage very clearly, showing a number of stabbing actions,' she told 3AW on Tuesday.
'Another prisoner did come to Tony Mokbel's aid it seems, and he was also injured. In terms of the relationship between those two people, it's too early to tell.'
Dr Cassar said authorities separated the alleged attackers within moments and placed them in a high-security unit.
They will be interviewed by police and prison authorities, who will also investigate who else is involved.
Three homemade weapons were recovered nearby and have been handed to police.
Brittany Lee McGuire, 22, who is the daughter of Mokbel's ex-partner Danielle, said on Tuesday: 'He is fine. He is a soldier... We just want him to get better'
Corrections Commissioner Emma Cassar said good quality security camera footage of the incident showed the moment Mokbel (pictured in 2007) was attacked
'These sort of incidents are unacceptable and for me, it's a real worry this has occurred,' Dr Cassar said.
'We're doing everything we can. We'll certainly wait for the Victorian police investigation and then my team will investigate, and there'll be an external review into this.'
Dr Cassar said it is too early to tell if the alleged incident related to a 'powerplay' within the jail.
A police source said it was understood the alleged attack was in response to a front page report, which suggested Mokbel had 'lost none of his power' in jail.
Corrections Commissioner Emma Cassar (pictured) said authorities separated the alleged attackers within moments and placed them in a high-security unit
Mokbel was airlifted to Royal Melbourne Hospital and was originally considered to be in a serious but stable condition, but deteriorated
Before the stabbing, Mokbel was said to be getting under the skin of fellow inmates by talking about his plans to walk free from prison amid the Informer 3838 saga.
Informer 3838 was a high-profile Melbourne barrister who had for years been giving information to police while representing Mokbel and six of his associates, potentially bringing their convictions into question.
Dr Cassar was asked on Tuesday morning if Mokbel had been bragging about being released.
'He was very confident he'd get out of jail,' she said, adding that was 'probably' annoying other inmates.
The life and times of 'Fat Tony': Who is former drug lord Tony Mokbel?
By Daniel Piotrowski
'Fat' Tony Mokbel is a notorious Victorian mobster serving a 30 year jail sentence for masterminding a Melbourne drug empire.
Mokbel, now 53, was once the Ferrari-driving 'king' of the city's underworld and Australia's most wanted fugitive.
Before he was finally locked up for good, Mokbel's life of crime involved tonnes of amphetamines and some mean feats.
One incident that stands out is Mokbel being blown out the door of his Brunswick amphetamines lab when it exploded in 1997.
But he is best known for making one of the country's great escapes from the long arms of the law in 2006.
Despite being amidst a cocaine trafficking trial, Mokbel fled Melbourne, hid in a Bonnie Doon farmhouse, drove across the country to Fremantle, Western Australia, and sailed from there to the sunny Mediterranean coast.
Morkbel is currently serving his 30 year jail sentence, with a minimum parole period of 22 years, after being sentenced in 2012 for masterminding a multi-million dollar drug trafficking empire
He kept running his drug empire from Athens, Greece, with his syndicate reportedly trafficking more than 45 kilograms of MDMA and $4million worth of speed over three years.
But it all ended in handcuffs and mockery when police finally caught him with him while he attempted to disguise himself in a floppy wig.
One of Victoria's top policemen famously described the headpiece as a 'shocker'.
Mokbel was hauled back to Australia and in 2012 the Victorian Supreme Court sentenced him to 30 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 22 years.
EARLY LIFE
Born Antonios Sajih Mokbel in Kuwait to Lebanese parents in 1965, his family migrated to Australia when he was eight.
He grew up in poverty in Melbourne's northern suburbs.
As a teenager, Mokbel started out at his brother's pizza shop but within six years became the head of a multi-million dollar drug empire.
EARLY CONVICTIONS
It is understood the decision was made to keep Mokbel in general population where he was allegedly set upon by a gang (Mokbel pictured at court in July)
1980s - From the early 1980s, Mokbel was convicted of a variety of offences, including assaults, threats to kill, resisting arrest, possessing a gun.
1992 - Sentenced to 12 months for trying to bribe a County Court judge.
1998 - Convicted for amphetamine manufacturing.
DRUG TRIAL AND ESCAPE
2006
March 20 - Disappears during Victorian Supreme Court trial over the importation of 2kg of cocaine from Mexico to Melbourne.
March 31 - Mokbel sentenced in absentia to a minimum of nine years' jail for trafficking cocaine.
Mokbel hid in rural Bonnie Doon in Victoria for eight months before driving to Western Australia and fleeing on a yacht via the Suez Canal to Greece where he arrived on Christmas Eve, 2006.
Mokbel is seen arriving at the Supreme Court in Melbourne in 2006 facing charges relating to the importation of a traffickable amount of cocaine
2007
Feb 28 - Mokbel charged with the murder of gangland patriarch Lewis Moran, gunned down by two men in Melbourne in 2004. Mokbel is alleged to have ordered the hit on Moran for $140,000.
June - Police arrest him at a cafe in Athens
RETURN TO AUSTRALIA TO FACE JUSTICE
2008
May 17 - Mokbel lands at Melbourne Airport and is taken to Barwon Prison.
May 20 - Appears in court for the first time via video link from prison.
Mokbel, center in t-shirt, boards a small jet escorted by Australians police at the Athens International Airport on May 16, 2008
2009
April - A murder charge laid against Mokbel for the 2003 murder of Michael Marshall is dropped.
August - Trial begins for Mokbel over the murder of Lewis Moran.
September - Mokbel acquitted of murdering Moran.
2011
April - Mokbel pleads guilty to two counts of trafficking a large commercial quantity of drugs.
2012
July - Jailed for 30 years a with a minimum of 22 years after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges
2018
February 11 - left in a critical condition after being stabbed in Barwon Prison.
