Two prison inmates have been charged with the attempted murder of drug kingpin Tony Mokbel, who remains in a critical condition in hospital after being stabbed at Barwon Prison. The 53-year-old received multiple stab wounds in an incident linked to a newspaper story about his child's private school fees being paid by taxpayers.
Police confirmed on Tuesday that the pair, both aged 21, were charged with attempted murder, intentionally causing serious injury, and causing serious injury intentionally in circumstances of gross violence. The stabbing occurred on Monday in the prison's exercise yard.
Mokbel was airlifted to Royal Melbourne Hospital in a critical condition, later upgraded from serious but stable. A second victim, aged in his 30s, was taken to hospital by road ambulance in a serious condition.
Mokbel was a key figure in Melbourne's gangland wars of the 1990s and 2000s and was represented by Lawyer X, the gangland lawyer and police informant at the centre of an upcoming royal commission. He was charged but not convicted of commissioning the murder of rival Lewis Moran in 2004.
After fleeing Australia in 2006, Mokbel was captured in Greece in 2007 and sentenced to 30 years in prison for drug crimes, with a minimum of 22 years before parole eligibility. The Lawyer X scandal has opened a possible appeal window for him.
Investigations into the stabbing are ongoing, police said.
