OneFour member ‘Lekks14’, Salec Sua, never steps out in public without covering his face. He won’t be showing it anytime soon, as he was jailed for up to 4.5 years on Friday
A OneFour rapper has been jailed for four-and-a-half years after ‘instigating’ a shocking brawl where a man was bashed with a hammer and a chair leg.
Salec Sua, a member of the viral rap group from Mount Druitt in Sydney’s west, broke down during a sentencing hearing at the NSW District Court on Friday.
The 26-year-old – better known as ‘Lekks14’ – pleaded guilty to reckless grievous bodily harm in company and assault occasioning bodily harm over a savage late night brawl.
Sua and his four mates’s July 2018 attack on two men playing the pokies Rooty Hill’s Carousel Inn was so bad one of the two victims said he ‘wanted to die’ during the attack.
The bloody melee, captured on CCTV, began after one of the victims asked Sua: ‘Why are you looking at my f***ing machine?’
Sua – a former youth worker – had been drinking for hours and ‘became aggressive’, the court heard.
Three members of the rap group based in Mount Druitt, western Sydney, have been now been jailed over the shocking brawl (file photo)
Members of the group beat three men to a pulp using their fists, a hammer and a chair leg – with Sua held back by security guards and later shaking one of the victim’s head while he was sprawled, unconscious, in a pool of his own blood
Yelling abuse, the OneFour rapper was then kicked out by security – only to storm back in with four of his mates.
Fellow band members Pio Misa (YP) and Dahcell Ramos unleashed on the two gamblers. Misa smashed a chair leg into the back of one’s head, while Ramos repeatedly pounded the other man’s head with a hammer.
The court heard Sua was being held back by a security guard, until one of the men fell unconscious and was left ‘lying in a pool of his own blood, unconscious on the ground’.
Sua was released by the guard and then grabbed the victim’s hair and shook the man’s head back and forth while he was sprawled on the ground.
OneFour rapper breaks down
Sua is a former youth worker and NBN technician and was described as drunk and aggressive when he ‘instigated’ the savage assault
Under examination from defence barrister Peter Lange, a softly-spoken and downcast Sua appeared to choke back tears while telling Judge James Bennett he didn’t want others to follow his path.
‘I want to do something to better my community so that kids don’t follow … follow the path I’ve … just continuing to come back to jail when there’s actually more to life than this,’ he said.
Sua claimed that he was ‘remorseful’.
‘(My victim) didn’t deserve the damage that was caused not only physically but the trauma now I’ve caused to his family and himself,’ he said.
Described in court as an alcohol addict, Sua said he wanted to apologise for the ‘trauma’ he had caused the victim, and said he had gone sober behind bars.
But under cross-examination from Crown prosecutor Henry Hudson, Sua admitted his bail had been revoked earlier this year for ‘attending a licensed premises’ for State of Origin this year.
He confirmed he had linked up with the outlaw motorcycle gang, The Outcasts, during a previous prison stint, but said he was not associating with them any longer.
Also in jail: Pio ‘YP (or ‘Youngest Player)’ Misa (left) and Dahcell ‘Celly’ Ramos (right) joined in the vicious assault of three men at the Carousel Inn in Rooty Hill in July 2018
Judge James Bennett said: ‘He (Sua) was the instigator and was strenuously involved but was held back fortunately – for his sake – by the security guards.’
The judge slammed the group’s violence as ‘extreme’ and said the victim had suffered ‘profound injuries’. He can no longer feel parts of his face.
What Sua had done was ‘deplorable’, he said. ‘To have taken the man by the hair and shaken his head is deplorable.’
The judge said Sua’s industry colleagues had seen him as having ‘great potential’ in the music industry, and it was ‘tragic’ what had unfolded.
‘He foolishly got himself involved in this criminal misconduct with awful consequences because he apparently was significantly impaired because of his consumption of intoxicating liquor.’
A fresh blow for ‘talented’ rap group
Sua joins behind bars his fellow rappers Misa – who was jailed for four years – and Ramos, who wielded the hammer and was jailed for 10.
The tough guy persona he puts on when he raps about guns and stabbing people in songs like Shanks and Shivs was no where to be seen today.
Losing three rappers to prison is a massive blow for OneFour, which is under siege on a number of fronts.
Last week, OneFour revealed they had cancelled their national tour after venues in two states pulled out.
Their management claimed it followed pressure from the NSW Police Force.The rap group has also had several live gigs cancelled recently in Australia, and flew to New Zealand to perform.
The group posted to Instagram this week: ‘They won’t let us perform in AUS rn, but one day they gon beg for it’.
Sua’s jailing means three members of the Mount Druitt ‘drill music’ group are now behind bars
More than a dozen friends and family supported Sua at court – where he choked up while giving evidence to a sentencing hearing
A NSW Police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that there had been ‘no censorship’, and denied officers had placed any improper pressure on venues or promoters.
‘While police provide safety and security advice to venues, promoters, and other stakeholders ahead of major events, the decision as to whether or not an event will proceed lies with the relevant venue,’ she said.
A large group of supporters were present in court during Sua’s sentencing, with two police officers hovering nearby. Sua waved to them as he was led away in handcuffs.
Publicly, Mr Sua has always kept his face hidden behind a scarf or hooded jacket.
But he won’t be showing his face in public until he is eligible for parole, in two years and three months, on October 1, 2021.