Reece Fakhr charged over gang offences after phone found at boy's shooting scene
Police allege the 18-year-old is a key player in the Coconut Cartel.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Investigators linked Reece Fakhr to the scene of a boy's shooting last month, sources say. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)
Photograph: ABC Australia (embedded from source)
What this story says
- NSW Police have charged Reece Fakhr, 18, with conspiracy to murder, soliciting a murder, kidnapping, and firearm offences.
- Fakhr is alleged by police to be a key player in the Coconut Cartel, a criminal network involved in a conflict with the Alameddine crime family.
- His phone was reportedly found at the scene of an 11-year-old boy's shooting in Norwest last month.
- Fakhr was arrested at Sydney International Airport and refused bail.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
60/100
Craft
70/100
Hype
40/100
6 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Reece Fakhr, 18, has been charged with multiple offences including conspiracy to murder, soliciting a murder, kidnapping, and firearm offences. NSW Police allege Fakhr is a key player in the Coconut Cartel, a criminal group whose leaders are overseas. The gang takes its name from a slur against Pasifika people and is reportedly engaged in a conflict with Sydney's Alameddine crime family, a dispute police attribute to at least four deaths.
According to reports, Fakhr's phone was discovered at the scene of an 11-year-old boy's shooting in Norwest last month. Fakhr is not accused of any wrongdoing in relation to the boy's death. The boy's family has links to the underworld. Fakhr was arrested at Sydney International Airport and subsequently refused bail.
Disagreement on charges and circumstances of arrest
WA Today and The Sydney Morning Herald report Fakhr was charged with 10 offences, including directing a criminal group and possessing an encrypted criminal communication device. WA Today also states he was arrested as he allegedly attempted to leave the country. ABC Australia states he was charged with conspiracy to murder, soliciting a murder, kidnapping and firearm offences stemming from the underworld conflict. The ABC reports he was arrested at Sydney International Airport and refused bail.
What the coverage left out
None of the left or centre-rated reports mention the specific figure of $1.2bn in relation to any aspect of the story.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 9 times, most recently on 7 Oct 2026, 06:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
5 rated outlets
- Left-rated reports led on the arrest of Reece Fakhr and his alleged connection to the Coconut Cartel. ABC Australia, Stuff, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and Brisbane Times all reported that Fakhr is alleged by NSW Police to be a "key player" in the Coconut Cartel. The ABC report detailed that Fakhr's phone was found at the scene of an 11-year-old boy's shooting in Norwest last month, and that he is not accused of wrongdoing in relation to the boy's death. The ABC also noted the gang's name and its conflict with the Alameddine crime family, stating police attribute gangland hostilities to at least four deaths. The left-rated digests from Stuff, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and Brisbane Times all stated Fakhr was arrested at Sydney Airport after police allegedly found evidence of wider criminal offending on a phone left at the scene of a fatal shooting.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The centre-rated report from WA Today highlighted the arrest of Reece Fakhr, alleged to be a member of the Coconut Cartel, in connection with the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old boy. It stated Fakhr was arrested at Sydney International Airport while allegedly attempting to leave the country. The report detailed that Fakhr faces 10 charges, including conspiracy to murder, kidnapping, arson, and directing a criminal group. WA Today also reported that investigators believe the boy may have been handling an illegal gun when it discharged, and that three other men were arrested at the apartment, with one charged with concealing a serious indictable offence.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Reece Fakhr charged over gang offences after phone found at boy's…?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 83% are rated left, 17% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Reece Fakhr charged over gang offences after phone found at boy's… left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Reece Fakhr charged over gang offences after phone found at boy's… biased?
- Reece Fakhr charged over gang offences after phone found at boy's shooting scene is one event reported by 6 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Reece Fakhr charged over gang offences after phone found at boy's…?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Reece Fakhr charged over gang offences after phone found at boy's…?
- 6 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What is Reece Fakhr accused of?
- Reece Fakhr has been charged by NSW Police with conspiracy to murder, soliciting a murder, kidnapping, and firearm offences. He is alleged to be a key player in the Coconut Cartel criminal network.
- How is Reece Fakhr linked to the 11-year-old boy's death?
- Reece Fakhr's phone was allegedly found at the scene of the 11-year-old boy's shooting in Norwest. However, Fakhr is not accused of any wrongdoing or involvement in the boy's death.
- Where was Reece Fakhr arrested?
- Reece Fakhr was arrested at Sydney International Airport. He was refused bail and his case was adjourned.
Read it at the source
6 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
5- Accused gang 'key player' linked to scene of Sydney boy's shooting (opens ABC Australia in a new tab)
ABC Australia — is ABC Australia biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Man linked to Australian crime network charged after 11-year-old boy shot dead (opens Stuff in a new tab)
- Alleged Coconut Cartel gang member arrested after boy, 11, fatally shot in face (opens Brisbane Times in a new tab)
Brisbane Times — is Brisbane Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Alleged Coconut Cartel gang member arrested after boy, 11, fatally shot in face (opens The Age in a new tab)
- Alleged Coconut Cartel gang member arrested after boy, 11, fatally shot in face (opens Sydney Morning Herald in a new tab)
Sydney Morning Herald — is Sydney Morning Herald biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
1Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
