A law student who spent a year in one of the country’s toughest prisons accused of a shooting crime he didn’t commit has spoken out about his year from hell.
Serdar Kilic was just a few months away from becoming a fully qualified lawyer when a dozen police officers arrived at his front door and arrested him on August 29, 2018.
The night before he had gone with friends to a home at Glenroy, in west Melbourne, to resolve an ongoing dispute with another man over a white Mercedes.
During the confrontation that man was shot and less than a day later Mr Kilic – owner of the 9mm pistol used – was charged with intentionally causing serious injury.
It wasn’t until last month that a magistrate dismissed the case against him – by which point the law student had already spent 13 months mixing it everyday with some of Victoria’s worst criminals.
Law student Serdar Kilic, 29, spent more than a year in jail mixing it with some of Victoria’s top criminals after being charged over a shooting in Melbourne in 2018 – a crime he didn’t commit
Mr Kilic (pictured) was last month found not guilty of a charge of intentionally causing serious injury. He had gone with friends to resolve a dispute over a Mercedes when the 9mm pistol he owned was used to shoot Eddie Diesel, a rising kickboxing star
‘It was surprising that it went that far, because I knew the whole time that I was going to be found not guilty,’ Mr Kilic, 29, told Daily Mail Australia of his drawn out saga.
‘Once the magistrate heard all the evidence, before he even handed down a verdict, he got me out of the locked box where I was sitting and put me behind my barrister.
‘He said he couldn’t believe I had spent so long in custody. At that point I knew that he was going to let me walk free.
‘I had my family, siblings and friends there and they were over the moon, really just relieved, when I was found not guilty.’
The 13 months prior to his release were, in Mr Kilic’s own words, ‘horrific’.
A budding lawyer at Victoria University, his life was turned upside down in an instant when he was charged with something he hadn’t done.
His nightmare began when he and two friends arrived at the house of Eddie Diesel, a rising kickboxing champion, to confront him over the Mercedes and its contents.
Mr Kilic claims that despite the matter of their visit and presence of the weapon, he never anticipated what was about to happen.
‘I didn’t think there would be trouble. I didn’t even go into the house, there was just a discussion outside and that was it,’ Mr Kilic told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I didn’t see it happen or the gun even go off. It happened so fast, I was in shock and disbelief so I left the scene and it wasn’t until the next day that I was arrested.’
A court heard Mr Diesel had allegedly assaulted the law student just moments before the gun went off, but the kickboxer was never charged with any offence.
During an interview with police Mr Kilic said he was not the shooter, but refused to reveal the names of the two friends he was with.
Despite having no prior convictions and offering a $150,000 surety, he was refused bail by the Victorian Supreme Court and transferred to the maximum security jail at Port Phillip.
Over the years the jail has housed infamous crooks like Julian Knight, mastermind of the Hoddle St massacre, and Abdul Nacer Benbrika, an Islamic extremist who once planned to bomb the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Being in such company came as a shock.
After his arrest, Mr Kilic spent six weeks inside the maximum security Port Phillip Prison south-west of Melbourne. Over the years the jail has been home to some of Victoria’s worst criminals
A two-bed cell similar to the one where Mr Kilic lived during his time in Port Phillip. He admits his first night in prison was particular ‘tough’
Police attend the scene outside the Glenroy home after the shooting. Less than 24 hours later officers had arrested Mr Kilic – the owner of the gun used in the shooting – and laid a number of charges
Kickboxing star Eddie Diesel is taken to hospital after being shot at his home in Glenroy, west of Melbourne, on August 28, 2018
‘I grew up in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, I come from a loving family that has always been really supportive of me,’ Mr Kilic said.
‘I consider myself to come from a pretty normal family, so to be in their with a heap of repeat offenders who are serving 20-25 years, it was a shock.
‘Once I was refused bail I knew then and there it was going to be a lengthy process… that was when it pretty much hit me (that this could drag on for a while).
‘The first night, the conditions were tough. I was in Scarborough South – one of the toughest units in the country, surrounded by well known criminals. I was in disbelief.
‘When you’re in that environment you’re just waiting for the next step. Just a little bit of information or your next court date, you want to know what’s happening.
‘You’re in here for a crime you didn’t commit, it’s like: ‘How bad is this going to get?”
After six weeks as an inmate at Port Phillip, Mr Kilic was transferred to the Ravenhall Correctional Centre where he would spend the remainder of his time behind bars.
Unlike the maximum security Port Phillip where days are regimented with four daily headcounts at 7am, 12.15pm, 4.45pm and 6.30pm, Ravenhall allowed him freedom.
‘In Ravenhall there are plenty of things you can do. Courses and drug programs, you can keep yourself busy in jail if you really want to,’ Mr Kilic said.
‘But my life was pretty different, I was working in the prison system as an educator.’
Mr Kilic last week returned to university for the first time, aiming to now finish off the last few months of his law degree that were so suddenly interrupted.
Mr Kilic (pictured with friend Sam Karagiozis) moments after he was cleared over the charge of intentionally causing serious injury
Mr Kilic walks out of Ravenhall Correctional Centre, where he had spent the final 11 months of his 13 months behind bars
Despite copping the rough end of the justice system stick, he says it has not affected his ambition to one day practice criminal law.
In fact, he thinks it will only end up helping him.
‘As a child I started working at a young age, I’ve always wanted what everyone wants – to buy my own property, to have a nice car and to have a good job,’ Mr Kilic said.
‘But most of all I wanted to become a lawyer. As far back as I can remember, when I used to be asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, it was to become a lawyer.
‘I think my time in jail will absolutely help. Now that I’ve spent a year in the system, I know how it feels when you have to wait for your next court date, when you have to urgently speak to your lawyer – I know the feeling.’
While Mr Kilic was cleared of the most serious crime – intentionally causing serious injury – he was convicted of failing to properly store a firearm and ammunition, and drug possession.
He was fined $1,000 and no conviction was recorded.