Senior SA bikie gang figure Andrew Peter Stevens deported
ONE of the state’s most senior outlaw bikie figures has been kicked out of the country after losing a two-year battle against deportation to the United Kingdom.
- Mongols boss loses marathon court fight to stay in SA
- 45 more high-risk SA crims deported
- From mob boss to crypto trader: Focarelli’s new gig
ONE of the state’s most senior outlaw bikie figures has been kicked out of the country after losing a two-year battle against deportation to the United Kingdom.
Andrew Peter Stevens, who was a key figure in the Mongols bikie gang in SA, was one of three men deported on character grounds during the week.
All three were foreign-born members of outlaw motorcycle gangs.
The two others were members of the Nomads and Bandidos in Queensland and were returned to New Zealand.
Stevens, a UK citizen, was deported back to his native country after the Federal Court dismissed his appeal to stay.
He was also ordered to pay $80,000 in court costs following the loss.
Stevens’ deportation ended a two-year legal appeal launched by the notorious bikie after his visa was cancelled in June, 2016.
At the time Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton had ordered that both he and former Commanchero Paul Burgess be deported on character grounds.
Mr Dutton on Sunday said outlaw bikie gang members posed “huge dangers” to the community.
“They are behind the ice scourge that is tearing families and towns apart across the country,” he said.
“I will do all I can to ensure that outlaw bikies who are foreigners living here on a visa and committing crimes are removed from Australia.”
Stevens was detained by Immigration Department officials when his visa was cancelled and flown to Christmas Island.
His detention crippled the Mongols in Adelaide.
He won a judicial appeal to be released in February this year but was held in detention in Perth in the lead-up to his deportation.
The bikie, who moved to Australia with his parents in 1971, aged nine, was a long-serving member of the Finks SA chapter and retained his position as Sergeant-at-Arms when the gang patched over to the Mongols in 2013.
The patching over move aimed to thwart the State Government’s anti-bikie laws but failed because police quickly declared the Mongols an outlaw motorcycle gang.
More than 190 outlaw motorcycle gang and organised crime members have had their visas cancelled or refused since 2014.
A 41-year-old New Zealand national with a “significant criminal history” was also removed from Brisbane earlier this month.