Koby Abberton
Encyclopedia
Koby Abberton an Australia
n former professional surfer, is a member of the Australian surf gang, the Bra Boys
. He rose to local prominence in 2006, when he was found guilty
of perverting the course of justice
in an incident surrounding his brother, Jai Abberton
, who was charged but found not guilty of the 2003 murder of stand-over man, Anthony 'Tony' Hines. Together with his brothers, Abberton achieved national and international attention in 2007 with the release of a feature-length documentary entitled Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water, written and directed by members of the Bra Boys. In November 2008, Koby Abberton was jailed for three days by a US court after being found guilty of assaulting an off-duty police officer in a fight outside a nightclub in Honolulu, Hawaii
.
Sydney
beach-side suburb of Maroubra to a heroin-addicted mother and a criminally inclined father (who was not his biological father but instead his mother's boyfriend), living in the "housing commission capital of Sydney". Abberton states that his home birth was not a result of specified choice, but as a method of avoiding the hospital where he says his mother "knew she'd get in trouble for being on heroin". Abberton is one of four children and brother to Jai, Sunny
, and Dakota Abberton
, all surfers.
Abberton describes the start of his career as the time when his "life got better." Following a disagreement with Abberton's mother's boyfriend, who assaulted him with a baseball bat, Abberton suffered a head injury during the altercation and he chose to re-locate to his older brother Sunny's house. Of the argument Abberton says "I just started crying. He [Sunny Abberton] said "Don’t worry, just try to forget about it and put everything you’ve got into your surfing. That’s our way out of this life," and that's when it all started." Abberton pursued his surfing career, going on to achieve sponsorship and international recognition for his abilities and achievements.
In November 2010, Abberton was announced as one of 24 alternates to the 26th Annual The Eddie
at Waimea Bay, Hawaii. The event will be held on one day, between 1 December 2010 and 28 February 2011, when waves exceed the 20-foot (6.1 metres) minimum threshold to contend for the US$98,000 prize purse.
In his personal life, Abberton has been romantically linked at various stages with Australian surf model and aspiring actress Tahyna Tozzi
, Paris Hilton
, actress Tara Reid
, and models Saskia Neillson and Eliska Amor.
as well as community ties. The group is often linked with the Maroubra Surfers Association, with which a number of its members are associated. In an interview on Triple J radio
, Abberton pointed out the "Bra" is a reference to the gang's suburb, Maroubra, and partly after the street slang for brother. Some members of the surf tribe tattoo
"My Brother's Keeper" across the front of their chest. A key motivation for Abberton to start the Bra Boys was his personal experience with heroin:
In 2004, Abberton starred in a 40-minute short documentary film
called Second Thoughts, released on video, that was directed and produced by Timmy Turner. The film was shot on location in Indonesia
and Abberton acted as himself. The film had a surfing theme. The Abberton family were featured in a 2005 episode of ABC TV
Australian Story
where Abberton again performed as himself.
Abberton, together with his brothers, were featured in the autobiographical documentary entitled Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water, written and co-directed by Sunny Abberton and narrated by actor Russell Crowe
. The award winning documentary detailed the lives of the Abberton family and the Bra Boys.
underworld figure, Anthony 'Tony' Hines. His older brother, Jai, was charged with the 2003 murder
of Hines and was acquitted, claiming self-defence, even though he admitted to shooting Hines. In 2005, Jai Abberton was acquitted of the murder.
Appearing in court on 5 August 2003 on three counts of false statements to police, Abberton pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder but changed his plea to guilty on 21 March 2004. Despite his brother's acquittal of criminal charges, on 24 November 2004, NSW District Court Acting Judge
Brian Boulten handed Koby Abberton a suspended nine-month jail sentence
after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice
in the same matter. During the time of these criminal proceedings, Abberton lost a string of lucrative sponsorship deals he had contracted through his professional surfing career. Despite surfing sponsor and surfwear giant Oakley
initially sticking by Abberton, they later withdrew A$250,000 annual sponsorship.
. In the lead up to the riots, Abberton spoke to The Daily Telegraph
about the assault of a lifeguard that sparked the incident, claiming:
Following the riots, in which the Bra Boys did not claim any involvement, Maroubra was the target of retaliation by Middle Eastern gangs. The Abberton brothers then held well-publicised meetings with other groups to help ease tensions. "I think that this is the start, the boys have agreed to come down and talk to us, to start some dialogue between the groups, you know, to try and ease some tension", said Sunny Abberton in a group interview on The 7.30 Report
. Koby Abberton, his brothers, and other member of the Bra Boys were labeled as playing catalyst to the riots with Abberton singled out as the main culprit. Later, Abberton disputed the claims that he had attempted to fuel the riots, going on to tell The Sydney Morning Herald
that he was "ashamed to be Australian that day" and had attempted, alongside his brothers and other Bra Boys to deflect and suppress the racially charged riots.
, A$150,000 to the NSW Crime Commission, and A$50,000 in legal fees relating to his unsuccessful defence to charges of perverting the course of justice.
In 2008, Abberton plead guilty to assaulting an off-duty police officer in Honolulu. He was given a three-day custodial sentence.
In 2007, it was reported that there were plans for an exhibition cricket
match to be played between members of the Bra Boys and the Compton Cricket Club
(CCC), a disadvantaged cricket team made up of former gang members from south central Los Angeles, to help raise the profile of the Foundation during the CCC's inaugural tour to Australia.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n former professional surfer, is a member of the Australian surf gang, the Bra Boys
Bra Boys
The Bra Boys is an Australian surf gang founded and based in Maroubra, an eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. Dating back to the 1990s, the gang has gained notoriety through violent clashes with members of the public and police...
. He rose to local prominence in 2006, when he was found guilty
Guilty
Guilty commonly refers to the feeling of guilt, an experience that occurs when a person believes that they have violated a moral standard.Guilty or The Guilty may also refer to:-Law:*Guilty plea, a formal admission of legal culpability...
of perverting the course of justice
Perverting the course of justice
Perverting the course of justice, in English, Canadian , and Irish law, is a criminal offence in which someone prevents justice from being served on himself or on another party...
in an incident surrounding his brother, Jai Abberton
Jai Abberton
Jai Abberton , an Australian former professional surfer, is a member of the Australian surf tribe, the Bra Boys. He rose to local prominence in 2005, when he was charged but found not guilty of the 2003 murder of stand-over man, Anthony 'Tony' Hines...
, who was charged but found not guilty of the 2003 murder of stand-over man, Anthony 'Tony' Hines. Together with his brothers, Abberton achieved national and international attention in 2007 with the release of a feature-length documentary entitled Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water, written and directed by members of the Bra Boys. In November 2008, Koby Abberton was jailed for three days by a US court after being found guilty of assaulting an off-duty police officer in a fight outside a nightclub in Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
.
Biography and surfing career
Abberton was born in the south-easternSouth-eastern Sydney
South-Eastern Sydney is a term which is used to describe the metropolitan area directly to the south and east of the Sydney central business district in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.The area stretches from the inner city to the foreshores of Botany Bay...
Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
beach-side suburb of Maroubra to a heroin-addicted mother and a criminally inclined father (who was not his biological father but instead his mother's boyfriend), living in the "housing commission capital of Sydney". Abberton states that his home birth was not a result of specified choice, but as a method of avoiding the hospital where he says his mother "knew she'd get in trouble for being on heroin". Abberton is one of four children and brother to Jai, Sunny
Sunny Abberton
Sunny Abberton , is a founding member of the Australian surf tribe, the Bra Boys. Together with his brothers, Koby, Jai, and Dakota, Sunny Abberton achieved national and international attention in 2007 with the release of a feature-length documentary entitled Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water,...
, and Dakota Abberton
Dakota Abberton
Dakota Abberton , an Australian surfer, is a member of the Australian surf gang, the Bra Boys. Together with his brothers, Koby, Jai, and Sunny, Dakota Abberton achieved national and international attention in 2007 with the release of a feature-length documentary entitled Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker...
, all surfers.
Abberton describes the start of his career as the time when his "life got better." Following a disagreement with Abberton's mother's boyfriend, who assaulted him with a baseball bat, Abberton suffered a head injury during the altercation and he chose to re-locate to his older brother Sunny's house. Of the argument Abberton says "I just started crying. He [Sunny Abberton] said "Don’t worry, just try to forget about it and put everything you’ve got into your surfing. That’s our way out of this life," and that's when it all started." Abberton pursued his surfing career, going on to achieve sponsorship and international recognition for his abilities and achievements.
In November 2010, Abberton was announced as one of 24 alternates to the 26th Annual The Eddie
Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational
The Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau—known as The Eddie— is a surfing tournament held at Waimea Bay on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Created in 1984 at Sunset, then changed to the infamous Waimea Bay where Aikau was a lifeguard and where he and his family were caretakers of the valley...
at Waimea Bay, Hawaii. The event will be held on one day, between 1 December 2010 and 28 February 2011, when waves exceed the 20-foot (6.1 metres) minimum threshold to contend for the US$98,000 prize purse.
In his personal life, Abberton has been romantically linked at various stages with Australian surf model and aspiring actress Tahyna Tozzi
Tahyna Tozzi
Tahyna Valentina Tozzi is an Australian model, singer and actress, perhaps best known for her role as Perri on Australian television series Blue Water High on free to air channel ABC.- Early life :...
, Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
, actress Tara Reid
Tara Reid
Tara Donna Reid is an American actress. Reid has acted on television shows such as Saved By The Bell: The New Class, Days of our Lives, California Dreams, and Scrubs....
, and models Saskia Neillson and Eliska Amor.
Bra Boys and acting career
The Bra Boys are held together by surfingSurfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
as well as community ties. The group is often linked with the Maroubra Surfers Association, with which a number of its members are associated. In an interview on Triple J radio
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
, Abberton pointed out the "Bra" is a reference to the gang's suburb, Maroubra, and partly after the street slang for brother. Some members of the surf tribe tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
"My Brother's Keeper" across the front of their chest. A key motivation for Abberton to start the Bra Boys was his personal experience with heroin:
"When I was about 14, our crew started the Bra Boys, and basically started controlling the place. We said there’s not going to be any heroin in Maroubra anymore, because we didn’t want drugs in the place."
In 2004, Abberton starred in a 40-minute short documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
called Second Thoughts, released on video, that was directed and produced by Timmy Turner. The film was shot on location in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and Abberton acted as himself. The film had a surfing theme. The Abberton family were featured in a 2005 episode of ABC TV
ABC1
ABC1 was a United Kingdom based television channel from Disney using the branding of the Disney owned American network, ABC.The channel initially launched exclusively on the British digital terrestrial television platform Freeview on 27 September 2004. On 10 December 2004 it was launched on...
Australian Story
Australian Story
Australian Story is a national weekly documentary series, produced and broadcast on ABC Television.Since 1996 Australian Story has featured many Australians from diverse backgrounds and reputations...
where Abberton again performed as himself.
Abberton, together with his brothers, were featured in the autobiographical documentary entitled Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water, written and co-directed by Sunny Abberton and narrated by actor Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
. The award winning documentary detailed the lives of the Abberton family and the Bra Boys.
The murder of Anthony Hines
In 2003, Abberton became entangled in a court case resulting from the death of a SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
underworld figure, Anthony 'Tony' Hines. His older brother, Jai, was charged with the 2003 murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of Hines and was acquitted, claiming self-defence, even though he admitted to shooting Hines. In 2005, Jai Abberton was acquitted of the murder.
Appearing in court on 5 August 2003 on three counts of false statements to police, Abberton pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder but changed his plea to guilty on 21 March 2004. Despite his brother's acquittal of criminal charges, on 24 November 2004, NSW District Court Acting Judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
Brian Boulten handed Koby Abberton a suspended nine-month jail sentence
Suspended sentence
A suspended sentence is a legal term for a judge's delaying of a defendant's serving of a sentence after they have been found guilty, in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation...
after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice
Perverting the course of justice
Perverting the course of justice, in English, Canadian , and Irish law, is a criminal offence in which someone prevents justice from being served on himself or on another party...
in the same matter. During the time of these criminal proceedings, Abberton lost a string of lucrative sponsorship deals he had contracted through his professional surfing career. Despite surfing sponsor and surfwear giant Oakley
Oakley, Inc.
Oakley, Inc., based in Foothill Ranch, California, makes sport equipment including sunglasses, sports visors, and ski goggles, as well as watches, clothing, bags, backpacks, shoes, prescription glasses, football and hockey eyewear, Golf gear and other accessories...
initially sticking by Abberton, they later withdrew A$250,000 annual sponsorship.
Cronulla Beach riots, 2005
The Abberton brothers and numerous members of the Bra Boys received negative coverage in Australian media following the racially charged 2005 Sydney race riots originating between opposing ethnic mobs on Cronulla beach. The negative media coverage motivated further rioting of the same racially charged nature on a string of other popular Sydney beaches, said to be an attempt to address the reported incidents of assaults and intimidatory behavior by groups of non-locals, some of whom were identified in earlier media reports as youths of Middle Eastern appearance from the suburbs of Western SydneyWestern Sydney
Western Sydney is a major region of Sydney, Australia. It has a number of different definitions but one consistently used is the region composed of the 11 councils which until recently were all members of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils:* Auburn Council* Bankstown City Council*...
. In the lead up to the riots, Abberton spoke to The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
The Daily Telegraph is an Australian tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, by Nationwide News, part of News Corporation.The Tele, as it is also known, was founded in 1879. From 1936 to 1972, it was owned by Frank Packer's Australian Consolidated Press. That year it was sold to...
about the assault of a lifeguard that sparked the incident, claiming:
"The reason why it's not happening at Maroubra is because of the Bra Boys. Girls go to Cronulla, Bondi, everywhere else in Sydney and get harassed, but they come to Maroubra and nothing happens to them. I read all this stuff about kids getting harassed because they want to have a surf and I say 'are you kidding?' The beach should be for Aussie kids. But if you want to go to beaches and act tough in groups you better be able to back it up. If these fellas come out to Maroubra and start something they know it's going to be on, so they stay away."
Following the riots, in which the Bra Boys did not claim any involvement, Maroubra was the target of retaliation by Middle Eastern gangs. The Abberton brothers then held well-publicised meetings with other groups to help ease tensions. "I think that this is the start, the boys have agreed to come down and talk to us, to start some dialogue between the groups, you know, to try and ease some tension", said Sunny Abberton in a group interview on The 7.30 Report
The 7.30 Report
The 7.30 Report is an Australian nightly television current affairs program, that was shown on ABC1 and ABC News 24 at , Mondays–Thursdays...
. Koby Abberton, his brothers, and other member of the Bra Boys were labeled as playing catalyst to the riots with Abberton singled out as the main culprit. Later, Abberton disputed the claims that he had attempted to fuel the riots, going on to tell The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
that he was "ashamed to be Australian that day" and had attempted, alongside his brothers and other Bra Boys to deflect and suppress the racially charged riots.
Bankruptcy and assault charges
Abberton was declared bankrupt in 2006, with debts in excess of A$1 million. These included debts of A$940,000 to the National Australia BankNational Australia Bank
National Australia Bank is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia in terms of market capitalisation and customers. NAB is ranked 17th largest bank in the world measured by market capitalisation...
, A$150,000 to the NSW Crime Commission, and A$50,000 in legal fees relating to his unsuccessful defence to charges of perverting the course of justice.
In 2008, Abberton plead guilty to assaulting an off-duty police officer in Honolulu. He was given a three-day custodial sentence.
The Mavis Abberton Foundation
The Mavis Abberton Foundation was set up by the Abberton brothers in an attempt to protect children of drug-dependent parents and children whose parents are in prison. The Foundation was named after the Abberton brothers' grandmother Mavis, who provided as their mother for most of their childhood while their own parents were incapable of providing a stable and guided environment. The Foundation attempts to suppress the prevalence of "lost children in broken-homes" and promotes a solace for those who may otherwise resort to drug dependency and criminal activity as a result of their environment.In 2007, it was reported that there were plans for an exhibition cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
match to be played between members of the Bra Boys and the Compton Cricket Club
Compton Cricket Club
The Compton Cricket Club , or the "Homies and the Popz", is a cricket club based in Compton, Los Angeles County, California, USA. The CCC is the only all American-born exhibition cricket team...
(CCC), a disadvantaged cricket team made up of former gang members from south central Los Angeles, to help raise the profile of the Foundation during the CCC's inaugural tour to Australia.
MyBrothersKeeper clothing
Inspired by the friendship and brotherhood codes instilled by the Bra Boys, the Abberton brothers created a clothing line to reflect the importance of solid bonds between friends and family entitled MyBrothersKeeper Clothing, sometimes referred to as MBK Clothing. MyBrothersKeeper is a reference to the unspoken motto of the Bra Boys and can be somewhat translated as the unconditional love, respect and support of those close to you regardless of race, gender and age. Official members of the Bra Boys, including Abberton, have the "MyBrothersKeeper" slogan permanently tattooed on their bodies. The clothing line is a reflection of the Bra Boys' moral and ethical codes of friendship. Members of the Bra Boys and those who have purchased items from the clothing range are often referred to by the Bra Boys as MBK Soldiers.External links
- Koby Abberton on MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Koby Abberton on the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...