SA court told bashing of senior Finks bikie was not planned attack but brawl over waiting for meeting in hot weather

AN incident that left an outlaw bikie with multiple fractures, a swollen brain and collapsed lungs was not a planned assault but a one-on-one brawl sparked by hot weather, a court has heard.

AN incident that left an outlaw bikie with multiple fractures, a swollen brain and collapsed lungs was not a planned assault but a one-on-one brawl sparked by hot weather, a court has heard.

Today Bozidar Cekic, a member of the now-defunct Finks Motorcycle Club, told the Supreme Court he had punched senior bikie Charles Bonnici to save his own life.

Cekic said Mr Bonnici attacked him with fists, headlocks and pool cues after an argument over changed bikie meeting times and hot weather turned violent.

“(Mr Bonnici) said ‘who the f--k are you to talk to me like that, I’m not one of your noms’, I told him to get f--ked, he told me to get f--ked and then he punched me,” he said.

“I stumbled back, punched him back and went to walk off, I didn’t want to fight him ... I heard him yell something and, as I turned, he hit me with a pool cue.

“I was in shock ... he seemed even more angry and I thought ‘this man is going to kill me’ so I fought back.”

Cekic, 23, is standing trial with Corey Dettmann, 41, Dean Richard Ciantar, 23, Paul Paunovic, 38, and Mostyn Carmello Rex Niemann, 26.

They have each pleaded not guilty to one aggravated count of causing Mr Bonnici — who has declined to give evidence — serious harm with intent in February 2013.

Prosecutors have alleged the group, affiliated with the Finks’ “central” chapter, attacked Mr Bonnici at the “northside” chapter where he was based to enhance their standing in the gang.

They have alleged the group used pool cues, a vacuum cleaner, a chair and bolt cutters to inflict injuries including two collapsed lungs, brain swelling and multiple fractures.

Charges the group also intended to rob Mr Bonnici of his $67,200 gold neck chain were dismissed by the court last week.

Today, Cekic told the court he was a boxer and fully-patched member of the Finks at the time of the incident, and was part of its “Terror Team”.

He said he was brought into that small group, alongside Finks including Andrew Majchrak and Mark Sandery, because he was “a good fighter”.

Cekic said an interstate Fink, who he knew only as “Number 25”, told him he had been included in the Terror Team, but did not detail what his responsibilities would be.

He said fully-patched Finks members attended meetings on a weekly basis but probationary members or “noms”, such as Ciantar and Niemann, were not permitted to attend.

Cekic said a meeting was to be held at the central club rooms on the day of the incident but it had been moved to northside, prompting members to drive from Thebarton to Salisbury.

He said that, upon their arrival, the club rooms had been closed and none of his peers had a key.

“It was a hot day that day and I was pretty much jumping from car to car, wherever there was air conditioning,” he said.

“At one stage I made a gesture toward the fence as a joke, like ‘can we pull this fence down and have this meeting?’.”

Cekic said many members had chosen to leave while he and his four co-accused had driven to a nearby car park where there was “a bit of shade”.

He said Mr Bonnici had arrived and, as the fully-patched members went inside, he had complained about the heat and the wait — which prompted the fight.

Cekic said he had picked up the chair to protect himself from Mr Bonnici’s pool cue and, when that weapon broke, the senior bikie had attacked him with at least one more cue.

“I punched him to the face and body, it would have been a half-dozen times, but I couldn’t stop him,” he said.

“He weighed 140kg, he was a big man, a very big man ... I was 183cm and 110kg ... he grabbed me and we wrestled to the floor, I was yelling to let me go and hitting him.

“We were pulled apart ... at that time I was in shock, I didn’t really know who it was ... I now know it was Corey Dettman.”

Cekic said he had pushed Mr Bonnici away, walked back toward the entrance to the club rooms and called to Ciantar and Niemann.

“I told them that the meeting is cancelled and everything has gone to shit, and I told them to come inside,” he said.

“Then I walked straight to the toilets because I realised I had a bit of blood on me and wanted to clean myself up.”

Asked if he knew what had happened next, or whether bolt cutters were used against Mr Bonnici, Cekic replied: “I don’t know anything about that.”

The trial, before Chief Justice Chris Kourakis and in the absence of a jury, continues.