BIKER BOYZ

Thursday 25 August 2011

Christian Menzies, who carries the initials ACCA – Always Commancheros, Commancheros Always - tattooed across his neck, took the witness stand yesterday and denied he had killed Anthony Zervas

Christian Menzies, who carries the initials ACCA – Always Commancheros, Commancheros Always - tattooed across his neck, took the witness stand yesterday and denied he had killed Anthony Zervas at Sydney Airport in 2009.

Menzies, 29, who had joined the Commancheros Motor Cycle Club in 2006 and was still loyal, though he was no longer a member, admitted he had been involved in the brawl at the airport on March 22 that year when 12 Commancheros confronted five Hells Angels.

But he said that after the initial scuffle, he had been solely bent on getting out of the airport, hearing that someone had a gun, and had not seen or heard the violent incident when Mr Zervas was bashed to death with a bollard.

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He has pleaded not guilty, along with the Commancheros president, Mahmoud (Mick) Hawi and four other Commanceros, to the murder of Anthony Zervas. The trial, in the Supreme Court, Parramatta, is being heard by Justice Robert Hulme and a jury.

Cross-examined by Natalie Adams, Crown prosecutor, Mr Menzies acknowledged that two witnesses had said he had swung the bollard. But he said the two (whose names have been suppressed) were wrong. He denied that when he had got into a taxi to get away from the airport, he had said: “I think I killed him.”

He agreed that a DNA sample matching his had been taken from the shirt of Mr Zervas. But he insisted that he had never touched Mr Zervas.

Mr Menzies said he had been to Melbourne that weekend and had been on the return trip when the Commanceros president, Mick Hawi, had confronted Hells Angels president, Derek Wainohu, on the plane, but he had been sleeping.

He had seen a scuffle involving Mr Wainohu at Gate Five at Sydney Airport but had not been involved. He said that when he and his fellow Commancheros had approached the check-in counter in the departure lounge, he had seen another group and had seen Anthony Zervas coming towards them.

He said talk that he had been involved in the fatal assault on Mr Zervas, referred to in evidence, was “bullshit”.

Ms Adams said the two people who had given evidence that he had been involved in the fatal assault happened to be the two Commancheros he had nominated as having been involved in the fight at Gate Five. Mr Menzies said that was coincidental.

He denied that when Mick Hawi and Anthony Zervas had been fighting at the check-in counter area, he had grabbed Mr Zervas and hauled him off. He had not chased Mr Zervas through the departure lounge, had not seen him fall, and had not seen him set upon by a group of Commancheros.

Ms Adams said a photo in evidence indicated that he was running in the direction of the fatal fight. Mr Menzies: “No.”

Ms Adams said: “The reason you were involved in that assault on Anthony Zervas was that you were part of an agreement with fellow Commancheros to inflict some serious injury on the Hells Angels?”

Mr Menzies replied: “I did not assault Mr Zervas and I did not make any agreement with anybody to do anything ... I did not touch Mr Zervas in any way, shape or form."

The trial resumes on Monday next week and final submissions are expected about two days later.


REBELS bikie enforcer Julian Ivory was jailed for almost nine years yesterday for brutally bashing a prospective member and demanding protection money

REBELS bikie enforcer Julian Ivory was jailed for almost nine years yesterday for brutally bashing a prospective member and demanding protection money from a Raymond Terrace tattooist.
Judge Christopher Robison described the Rebels as an ‘‘almost mafia-style organisation’’ that stood over people and made threats such as ‘‘we can shut you down and blow the shop up’’, Newcastle District Court heard.

Ivory, who pleaded guilty to demanding money with menaces and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, was jailed for eight years and nine months with a non-parole period of five years and three months.

He will be eligible for parole in August 2015.

The tall and athletically-built 22-year-old joined the club’s Newcastle chapter about 2 years ago and rose to the rank of sergeant-at-arms, the court heard.

On May 16 last year, the bashing victim, who was in the ‘‘hang about stage’’ of his membership bid, was summoned to the Rebels’ Wickham clubhouse and ordered to bring a gun that he had been storing at his home.

They told the victim they were going to do a drug rip-off and a carload of club members then travelled to a secluded spot at Stockton then Minmi Cemetery where they armed themselves with a baseball bat and a metal pipe.

The victim was struck at the knees before the gang punched, kicked and repeatedly struck him with the weapons. The victim lost consciousness.

He woke about 3am and crawled to a home where he called for help.

He suffered fractures to his face and various cuts and bruises to his head and body.

Ivory later told a Probation and Parole officer that he believed the victim had been making negative comments about him while court documents stated that the victim may have collected protection money from the tattooist when he was not authorised to do so.

About two weeks before the bashing, Ivory and his associates visited the Raymond Terrace tattooist and told him ‘‘you can’t open a store here’’.

They said ‘‘we run this area, this is our town’’ then settled on a $200-a-week protection payment.


Wednesday 17 August 2011

Killer gets five years for brutal attack

convicted killer wasted no time returning to a criminal lifestyle by attacking a young woman at a party only days after he was released from prison.
Chevy Ballentyne, 26, has been deemed a high-risk to re-offend and has shown little remorse for his actions. He is now linked to the Rock Machine biker gang, which is currently waging war in Winnipeg with the Hells Angels.
He was convicted earlier this year of hog-tying the female victim, punching her in the face and threatening to kill her during the December 2009 incident. Ballentyne had just returned to the community after serving most of a nine-and-a-half year sentence for manslaughter in a 2002 slaying.
"Mr. Ballentyne is beyond rehabilitation," Crown attorney Mike Desautels said at Ballentyne's latest sentencing hearing on Monday. He was seeking a seven-year sentence for the most recent incident, suggesting anything less would endanger the community.
But Queen's Bench Justice Rick Saull disagreed, giving Ballentyne five-and-a-half years behind bars.
The 19-year-old victim testified she was at a party when Ballentyne started assaulting several people in the home. He then grabbed her by the hair, bound her arms and legs together and threatened to "chop" her up. She was restrained for at least 10 minutes before others at the home untied her, court was told.
Following his arrest for his most recent crime, jail guards seized a letter in which Ballentyne promised to pay tuition for a female witness to the incident -- provided she came to court and lied about what happened. Ballentyne wrote he didn't want to go back to jail.
"If I was to get convicted... I'd get hit with the book," he said, according to Desautels. Ballentyne was not charged with obstructing justice for the incident.
The attack that landed him back in custody is eerily similar to the one that killed 46-year-old Guy Pouliot in 2002. The man was tied up with an electrical cord and smashed over the head with a stereo speaker, snow shovel and curtain rod by Ballentyne and a co-accused.

 


Tuesday 9 August 2011

Two Comancheros bikie gang members have been charged by police over a brawl at a Northbridge nightclub.


The incident at The Library nightclub on Saturday May 28 left a 25-year-old man with concussion and facial swelling.

Gang crime squad detectives will allege that two men, a 22-year-old from Kiara and a 20-year-old from Dianella, knocked the victim unconscious causing him to fall to the floor and then the second man kicked him in the head.

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The victim, from Victoria Park, sustained a laceration above the right eyebrow, concussion and swelling to the jaw.

Police said the two men have links to the Comancheros motorcycle gang.

They have been released on bail, and will appear in Perth Magistrate's Court on August 23 facing one charge each of assault occasioning bodily harm.


Two Finks bikies have been arrested over the shipment of military-style guns from Adelaide to Sydney.



Police said on Tuesday the two guns were found hidden under the boot lining of a car that was stopped at Campbelltown in February this year.

One had been modified to be fully automatic but jammed repeatedly when tested, Detective Inspector Steve Taylor of the Crime Gangs Task Force said.

Ongoing investigations resulted in the arrest and extradition to Adelaide of a 33-year-old man from Kellyville, in Sydney's west in July.

He was charged with two counts of acquiring a firearm and was allowed to return to NSW as part of his bail conditions.

Last week a 39-year-old man from suburban Adelaide was also arrested and charged with two counts of supplying a firearm.

He appeared before the Adelaide Magistrates Court on August 5 but did not apply for bail.

He was due to return to court on Tuesday.

Insp Taylor said the shipment of guns was "fairly typical" of bikie gangs and organised crime syndicates.

"Organised crime tends to go hand-in-hand with guns and drugs," he said.


Friday 5 August 2011

crackdown on bikie gangs over the past four years has resulted in almost 900 arrests in South Australia

crackdown on bikie gangs over the past four years has resulted in almost 900 arrests in South Australia, police say.

The state's Crime Gangs Task Force has also taken more than 125,000 street deals of drugs out of circulation and has seized 220 guns and more than $1.3 million in cash.

Four gang headquarters have also been closed down.

But Assistant Commissioner Grant Stevens conceded bikie numbers were on the rise since the High Court ruled against elements of SA's anti-gang laws, increasing to about 240 at present after previously falling from 265 to about 200.

The arrests in SA since 2007 included 252 patched bikie members and 639 gang associates.

The rising bikie presence in SA was highlighted by what Mr Stevens said was an "overt display of defiance" at Adelaide Airport earlier this week when members of the Finks gathered to greet former Coffin Cheater turned senior Fink Troy Mercanti from Perth.

Mercanti came to SA just hours after being released from a WA prison but has since left Adelaide for another state.

Police said they had monitored his movements but would not reveal his current location.

Mr Stevens said Mercanti's appearance in SA meant it was timely to provide an assurance to the local community that police would continue to make bikies accountable for acts of violence and other crimes.

"Outlaw motorcycle gang members have no regard for the law," he said.

"We continually see incidents of drive-by shootings, stabbings, violent assaults and also more serious incidents including bombings and attacks on individuals.

"The reality is these people are criminals and they live their lives to engage in violence, in drug distribution and drug manufacture.

"Their behaviour and criminal activity is totally unacceptable."

Mr Stevens said it would be a significant challenge to totally shut down bikie gangs given their established history in Australia.

"But our resolve is to ensure they comply with the laws of South Australia," he said.


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