Formula One driver’s father jailed
RETIRED plastic surgeon Leo Rozner revealed that he was "still in shock" following death threats from Michael Abay, the father of Jewish racing car driver Sam Abay.
ADAM KAMIEN
RETIRED plastic surgeon Leo Rozner revealed that he was “still in shock” following death threats from Michael Abay, the father of Jewish aspiring Formula One (F1) racing car driver Sam Abay.
Michael was sentenced to three years jail this week for threatening to kill and trying to extort $100,000 from Mr Rozner and Harvey Bierman, both members of Melbourne’s Jewish community.
“We were absolutely harassed,” Mr Rozner said. “It was so bad. I’m still in shock that I was a target. I wasn’t so scared for myself, but my children. We were all threatened.”
In August last year, Michael left a typed note in the letterbox of Mr Rozner’s home asking: “How much is your life worth? How much is the life of one of your children worth? To us, $50,000.” The note was followed by months of harassing phone calls and more letters.
Mr Rozner said Michael, who he had never met, tried to make out he was an Islamic extremist in the letter.
“He said it all in the opening statement of his letter: ‘How much is your, or your children’s life worth?’. Then it went on to garbage and all sorts of rabble. He tried to make it out like it was a [member of the] Muslim Brotherhood, [writing] ‘Allah be praised’ and all that sort of stuff.”
The letter instructed Mr Rozner to take out an advertisement in The Herald Sun classifieds stating he was looking for a Mercedes CLK and was willing to pay $50,000 for it.
Mr Rozner immediately took the letter to the police.
Michael, 61, also tried to extort $50,000 from Bierman, making harassing phone calls and delivering several letters to his Toorak residence.
In sentencing on Friday last week, Judge Joe Gullaci called Michael’s crimes “serious, reprehensible” and “well-planned”.
Michael pleaded guilty and will spend nine months in jail, after the judge ordered 27 months of his sentence be suspended.
A psychiatrist reportedly found that chronic depression and alcohol dependency meant Michael’s ability to exercise consistent judgement was impaired at the time he committed the crimes.
Known as the most expensive sport in the world, F1 aspirants need huge financial backing to progress -— money the Abays did not have.
While trying to keep his son’s dream of becoming a F1 driver alive, Michael lost his business and his marriage broke down.
Sam rose quickly through the motor racing ranks, and in 2008 was racing British Formula 3, a breeding ground for F1 drivers.
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