EXCLUSIVE: How a Sydney identity who beat seven 1980s murder-related charges and won $100,000 after John Ibrahim portrayed him as a hitman in his book has now been picked for JURY service

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Sydney identity Tom Domican was once found guilty by a jury of attempting to murder hitman Chris Flannery by shooting the notorious gun-for-fire outside his home. 

Another jury found him guilty of conspiring while in jail to murder the killer who millionaire hotelier Andrew Kalajzich paid to shoot dead his wife Megan in the couple's bedroom.

Two further panels of Domican's peers cleared him of conspiring to murder drug dealer Michael Sayers and prison superintendent Ron Woodham, while the earlier guilty findings were eventually quashed. 

Now Domican is faced with the opportunity of sitting in judgment on others as they have of him, after learning he is on the New South Wales jury roll for the next year.

Domican says his official invitation to determine the guilt of others finally proves he is not a criminal as alleged for decades and that he did not take part in Sydney's so-called 1980s gang wars. 

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Sydney identity Tom Domican, who was charged with seven murder-related offences in the 1980s, has been put on the jNSW jury roll. He was found guilty by juries of attempted murder and conspiracy to murder. All Domican's convictions were overturned on appeal

Former Sydney garbo Tom Domican, pictured in 1986, says he is sick of being portrayed as an underworld figure. He is now faced with the opportunity of sitting in judgment on others as they have of him, after learning he is on the jury roll for the next year

Last year Domican successfully sued night club baron John Ibraham for $100,000 after Ibrahim falsely portrayed him as a hitman and drug dealer in his best-selling memoir. Ibrahim, pictured with a copy of his book Last King of the Cross, is writing another memoir

The fitness fantatic has long railed against being called an underworld figure and argued that his criminal record was clean, noting every jury verdict against him was eventually overturned.

He has blamed the charges he has faced on malignant forces including corrupt police acting with criminals to besmirch his name and disreputable prison informers. 

Last year Domican successfully sued former night club baron John Ibraham for $100,000 after Ibrahim falsely portrayed him as a hitman and drug dealer in his best-selling memoir.

Domican recently received a letter from the Office of the Sheriff informing him he had been put on the jury roll for the district of Sydney for a year from June. 

During that time he can be called upon to serve on a jury in criminal trials. 

'What it proves to me is that the government and every other bastard has finally accepted the truth,' Domican told Daily Mail Australia.

'And the truth is that there never was a gangland war and never was I involved in criminality.'

Asked if he would wish to sit on a jury, Domican said: 'Of course I would'.

'I'm a f***ing citizen, aren't I? And a respected one.' 

Dublin-born Domican is a former garbage collector and onetime inner-city Labor Party numbers man who has been involved in the construction industry and industrial relations. 

Domican recently received a letter (pictured) from the Office of the Sheriff informing him he had been put on the jury roll for the district of Sydney for a year from June. During that time he can be called upon to serve on a jury in criminal trials

Sydney identity Tom Domican was once found guilty by a jury of attempting to murder hitman Chris Flannery (pictured) by shooting the notorious gun-for-fire outside his Arncliffe home

He was charged with one murder, one attempted murder and five conspiracies to murder during the 1980s but was cleared of every alleged offence.

Many of those prosecutions had relied on the word of discredited prison informers seeking benefit for themselves. The Independent Commission Against Corruption later issued a scathing report about using such witnesses in criminal trials.

Written in 'the mongrel tongue of the streets', Last King of the Cross is described by its publisher Pan Macmillan as 'crazier than Goodfellas, more compelling than The Godfather' 

With multiple alleged victims named in some charges, Domican could have spent the rest of his life behind bars. 

'I faced ten life sentences,' Domican said. 'Every case against me fell on its arse.'

People may be excluded from the jury roll if they have a criminal conviction, are serving a term of imprisonment or detention or are undischarged bankrupts. 

Depending on the offence they may be excluded for life or a set period of time.  

Being on the jury roll made Domican feel vindicated after spending more than 30 years protesting his innocence. 

'It not only vidicates me,' he said. 'It vindicates every judge, including the ICAC, that said Tom Domican was innocent of these charges.' 

More than a dozen heavy Sydney criminals were killed in the second half of the 1980s in what has usually been described as turf wars over heroin distribution.

Among those cited as major players in the conflict were corrupt detective Roger Rogerson, heroin dealer and armed robber Neddy Smith and hitman Flannery. 

'I am really and truly pleased that I have been vindicated and that the court has preserved the presumption of innocence,' Domican told media following his defamation win against John Ibrahim last September. Domican is pictured outside the Federal Court with his wife Anne

Domican had been 'truly pleased' in September after reaching a settlement with Ibrahim (pictured) and publisher Pan MacMillan over his portrayal in the 'Last King of the Cross'

Domican has previously objected to his brief portrayal in the television series Blue Murder which dramatised the exploits of Rogerson, Smith, Flannery and others.

Graham 'Abo' Henry, who also featured in Blue Murder as a serious criminal of that time, wrote about Domican in his own book Abo: A Treacherous Life.

'Everyone involved in major crime gangs in Sydney knew each other,' Henry wrote.

'But nobody knew Domican... He was not a gangster.'

Domican knew some of those who did not survive the era including drug dealer Barry McCann, who was shot dead at Marrickville in December 1987 and boxer Roy Thurgar, who was shot dead at Randwick in May 1991.

'It's not a crime to know people,' Domican said. 'If it was there would be many captains of industry and politicians serving life sentences.' 

Sydney's 1980s underworld was portrayed in in the 1995 television drama series Blue Murder. Pictured left to right are Gary Sweet playing hitman Chris Flannery, Peter Phelps as Graham 'Abo' Henry, Richard Roxburgh as detective Roger Rogerson and Tony Martin as Neddy Smith

Tom Domican says it is not a crime to know criminals. He was an associate of boxer turned criminal enforcer Roy Thurgar (left) who was shot dead at Randwick in 1991. Domican was found not guilty of having conspired to murder drug dealer Michael Sayers (right)

Domican was charged with murdering Flannery, who disappeared from his city apartment in May 1985, and his attempted murder at Arncliffe in January that year.

He was accused of firing about 30 rounds from an Armalite rifle at Flannery while he stood in his driveway with his wife and daughter.  

The murder charge was dismissed at committal but a jury found him guilty of attempted murder and he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Domican successfully appealed the attempted murder conviction in the High Court but by the time he was released had served about five and a half years. 

While behind bars Domican was charged with conspiring to murder Sayers in 1983-1985 and Ron Woodham, who went on to become Corrective Services commissioner in 1987-1988.

He was also charged with have conspired to murder Flannery's widow Kath in 1985, Megan Kalajzich's killer Bill Vandenberg in 1986 and policeman turned prisoner Max Gudgeon the same year.

Domican was eventually cleared of all those charges. 

[Sayers was shot dead outside his home at Bronte in 1985. Vandeberg hanged himself in prison in 1988]. 

Domican has never been accused of or charged with drug offences.

'After 30 years I'm just sick and tired of all the bulls**t,' Domican told Daily Mail Australia last year. 'It not only hurts me, it hurts my wife and my family.' 

Domican had been 'truly pleased' in September after reaching a settlement with Ibrahim and publisher Pan MacMillan over his portrayal in the 'Last King of the Cross'. 

He had claimed Ibrahim's book implied he was a hitman, a criminal who conducted or sought to conduct illegal gambling and engaged or sought to engage in the supply of heroin, and 'a violent criminal who took part in gang wars.' 

'I am really and truly pleased that I have been vindicated and that the court has preserved the presumption of innocence,' Domican said outside the Federal Court. 

Tom Domican was cleared of conspiring to murder prison officer Ron Woodham (left). Domican was convicted of conspiring to murder Bill Vandenberg who was hired by Andrew Kalajzich (right) to kill his wife Megan. That conviction was later quashed

In addition to the $100,000 payout, Justice John Grifiths ordered that any new printings of the Ibrahim book exclude any reference to Domican.

Ibrahim and Pan MacMillan were also ordered to pay Domican's court costs, estimated to be about $80,000.  

Domican claimed he had been 'greatly injured in his credit, and reputation, and has been brought into public scandal, odium and contempt' by Ibrahim's book. 

His law suit was filed a fortnight after Ibrahim's book was long-listed in the true crime category of the Australian Crime Writers Association's prestigious Ned Kelly Awards.

Last King of the Cross charts Ibrahim's rise from a boy fleeing war-torn Lebanon with his family to his nights as a bouncer and his eventual domination of the Sydney nightclub scene.

Written in 'the mongrel tongue of the streets', it is described by its publisher as 'crazier than Goodfellas, more compelling than The Godfather.'

'Last King of the Cross is a colourful crime saga like no other and powerful proof that the truth is always stranger than fiction,' the publisher states.

'Bullets fly, blades flash and bodies fall.

'In a city of shadows, John builds his army and empire - partying like a playboy prince of darkness while staying one step ahead of the cops, the outlaw gangs and hungry triggermen, plotting to take him and his family down.'

Ibrahim is writing another memoir to follow his best-selling debut work. Domican is finishing the last chapters of his first book.