Finks bikies David Anderson, Raffaele Marrone and Timothy Byrne standing trial over associating at funeral

Three Finks bikies were present at a funeral together but say it’s not a crime because they’re entitled to religious freedom. But are they even religious?

Three bikies who were mourning the loss of a fellow member at his funeral say it can’t be a crime because they’re entitled to religious freedom, a court has heard.

David John Anderson, 49, Raffaele Daniel Marrone, 44, and Timothy John Byrne, 31, don’t deny they were present in a public setting together but argue the court can’t define their religious beliefs.

During the men’s trial in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Wednesday, prosecutor Sophia Taylor told the court it was not disputed the men were members of the Finks outlaw motorcycle gang.

The court heard the trio were present at a fellow Finks bikie Serbian Orthodox funeral on May 8, 2020 at Distinctive Funerals in West Hindmarsh.

The men were seen standing with one another on the street, erecting a banner and lifting helium balloons.

Timothy Byrne. Photo: Facebook

Raffaele Marrone. Photo: Facebook

Mr Anderson, of Paralowie, Mr Marrone, of Virginia, and Mr Byrne, of Tarpeena, pleaded not guilty to being present with two or more members of a criminal organisation.

During his closing statement, Bede Elliot, for the men, said the charges were in contravention of sections of the Australian Constitution that guarantee freedom of religion.

Mr Elliot said there are multiple ways to establish a religion and it’s not up to the government or court to determine what is one.

“Religion is what you believe, what your conscience tells you that you should do,” he said.

Mr Elliot told the court there was a myth that religion always has something to do with God.

“There’s all sorts of wacky religions,” he said.

“There’s people that believe they’re going to reincarnated … there’s people that worship rats.

“It shouldn’t be a test.

“If people's consciousness tells them that this is what in they believe in and put in to practise those things that relate to that, it’s established to be a religion.”

Mr Elliot said the deceased didn’t have family so the accused paid for and organised the funeral and weren’t intending to associate with one another.

“They’ve done everything to try and stay away from each other and as a result they couldn’t even have the dignity of burying someone,” he said.

Warwick Ambrose, intervenor for the Attorney-General’s Department, told the court there was no evidence that any type of religious ceremony happened at the funeral.

“There’s no given evidence that the gentlemen who attended this funeral believed in some religious spirituality,” he said.

Magistrate Roderick Jensen will deliver his verdict at a later date.