Dion Madden and Beau Cochrane pleaded guilty to drug and weapon charges after Magill bust
A bikie president who was forced to close his sports business turned to drugs and was seduced into the criminal lifestyle for fancy cars and money, a court has heard.
North & North East
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A bikie president caught with a significant drug and weapons haul was seduced into the lifestyle for cars and money, a court has heard.
Dion Jay Madden, 42, and fellow Nomad bikie Beau James Cochrane’s crimes were exposed after covert cameras and listening devices were set up by police.
Karen Ingleton, for the prosecution, told the District Court on Wednesday the men were at the top of the Nomads hierarchy.
“They were presidents of different chapters in South Australia,” she said.
“It was a conscious decision on his (Madden’s) part to be seduced into that lifestyle because the people involved in that club had cars and money.”
Ms Ingleton said Madden purchased a number of vehicles, including $36,322 for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in May 2020, $103,000 for a Mercedes Benz station wagon in October 2020 and another motorcycle in 2021.
Ms Ingleton said CCTV footage from Madden’s wife’s beauty and florist business in Stonyfell depicted Mr Madden, Adam Robert Fennell and another Nomad bikie counting large volumes of cash in October 2020.
The wife is not accused of any wrongdoing, nor any involvement in her husband’s crimes.
Fennell – who was previously an F45 trainer at the Glenelg studio – was initially facing trial for his role in the operation but pleaded guilty to two counts of commercial drug trafficking and money laundering.
He will face sentencing submissions later this month.
Thousands of dollars worth of heroin and meth were taken off the streets, as well as 11 firearms, five vehicles, four Harley Davidson motorcycles and a jetski after seven properties were searched in Adelaide’s north and east on April 23, 2021.
The Nomads were put under the spotlight during Operation Leo, an investigation that began in December, 2020.
15,000 telephone recordings were intercepted from a shed at a Magill address after police set up a covert camera and listening device.
Police found 720g of “very high purity” methamphetamine, valued between $112,000 and $130,000 if sold in ounces.
They also found 702g of heroin – valued between $150,000 and $175,000 if sold in ounces – and 83.5g of methamphetamine and $9600 secreted in a car used by Cochrane.
Cochrane, of Highbury, and Madden, of Glynde, pleaded guilty to trafficking commercial amounts of heroin and methamphetamine, as well as laundering $27,200, for the benefit of a criminal organisation.
Cochrane also pleaded guilty to possessing 11 firearms without a licence, including two pistols, six rifles and three shotguns for the benefit of a criminal organisation.
Marie Shaw KC, for Madden, told the court her client opened a sports store in 2013 but was forced to close the business in 2016, leading to him and his wife losing their home.
“The shame and embarrassment as a result of the loss of the family home and his business did lead him to … become addicted to amphetamines,” she said.
Ms Shaw said Madden then started using cocaine, which is when he came into contact with the Nomads.
The court heard the Nomads ceased to exist after the men were arrested.
Ms Shaw said Madden’s “serious error” of involving himself with the Nomads now meant he faced “catastrophic consequences”, including being separated from his wife and children while in custody.
Judge Liesl Kudelka will sentence both men next month.
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