Almost a week after he was shot dead in his bed in a brutal gangland execution, bikie associate Kemel Barakat has been farewelled in Sydney's inner-west.
Twenty-nine-year-old Barakat, nicknamed "Blackie", was peppered with more than a dozen bullets as he slept in his upmarket Mortlake unit last Friday.
Mr Barakat, who was a suspect in the shooting of crime figure Hamad Assaad, was aware of the target on his back, having remarkably dodged being shot at in the western suburbs weeks earlier.
In the pouring rain on Thursday, mourners flocked to the Alawi Youth Movement Centre in Marrickville for the Hells Angel bikie gang figure's funeral service.
Among the crowd, many with hoods pulled up over their heads and gazes down, was Ahmad "Rock" Ahmad, the brother of slain underworld figure Wally Ahmad.
Rock Ahmad and Mr Barakat were close friends, both of whom had their homes targeted in police searches in the past few months.
The police presence at Thursday's funeral was strong with multiple marked and unmarked vehicles performing laps of the largely industrial area as the service was underway.
Flower wreaths were carried out and loaded into a waiting hearse as crying relatives looked on.
Traffic came to a standstill as Mr Barakat's coffin was carried down the centre's stairs, across the road in the rain and into the hearse.
Mr Barakat will be buried at Rookwood Cemetery on Thursday afternoon.
His death has fuelled concerns about further reprisal attacks in Sydney's underworld.
Mr Barakat had emerged as one of several suspects in the shooting of Mr Assaad, 29, who was killed outside his Georges Hall home last October.
In similar circumstances, Mr Assaad, renowned for his arrogance within criminal circles, had been pinned as a key suspect in the brazen public shooting of Walid "Wally" Ahmad last April.
One theory was that Mr Assaad was killed
in retribution for his suspected role in Ahmad's death.
In turn, police are also looking at whether Mr Barakat was killed for his rumoured hand in shooting dead Mr Assaad.
Mr Barakat had moved into the Mortlake
apartment a month or so before he was killed and his address was meant to be
known to only close friends, family and the police.
His unit complex was secure however it is understood there were no signs of forced entry on the night of his death.
A woman was in his unit when he was shot in the early hours of the morning but she escaped uninjured.
Mr Barakat's wife was on holiday in Thailand when the shooting occurred.