Comanchero bikie charged with conspiracy to murder and bash released on bail – opening way for more applications for release

A bikie arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder and meth trafficking has been released. It’s sparked a warning more could follow.

The release of a Comanchero bikie accused of conspiracy to murder under Operation Ironside could open the floodgates for other gang members facing that charge to be freed, a senior legal source says.

On Friday, the Supreme Court granted home detention bail to the man in his 30s, who is also charged with trafficking 39kg of methamphetamine but cannot be identified for legal reasons.

His release – a first for any Ironside accused on a conspiracy to murder charge – comes more than a year after his arrest.

Justice Laura Stein put strict conditions on the home detention bail which include limiting him to one mobile phone with no internet access and a no-contact clause with anyone associated with the Comanchero.

Justice Stein said the application for release had been finely balanced but she was ultimately swayed by the inability of prison authorities to manage the man’s severe sleep apnoea while in prison.

Over the course of multiple hearings, Marie Shaw QC, for the man, and prosecutors sparred over whether the condition could be managed behind bars.

The court heard the man would stop breathing as many as 100 times an hour and had lost 30kg since he was taken into custody in June last year.

Mrs Shaw said her client had been provided with a sleep apnoea machine but it was not equipped with an SD card which allowed for the device to be adjusted to treat the condition.

As a result, the pressure of oxygen in the machine was so high the man could not sleep with the mask on.

Mrs Shaw said that every night her client went to bed he feared he would stop breathing and not wake up.

Despite the bail hearing and the man’s continued requests, he had still not seen a specialist by the time Justice Stein ordered his release on bail.

A senior legal source told the Sunday Mailthat while every application for bail turned on its own facts, the principle of parity meant people on similar charges could mount a convincing argument for bail.

“This may open the gate for a lot of bail applications,” he said.

“They will argue that like and like should be dealt with equally and people on that charge can be granted bail as well.”

Any trials for Ironside accused are still some time away, with a test case currently before the Supreme Court unlikely to resolve this year.

The bailed bikie is accused of supplying a handgun which was to be used in the assassination of a rival to the Comanchero at Rosslyn Park.

Police believe the target of the shooting was a long-time rival of a senior Comanchero member and owed a $300,000 drug debt.

The plot was foiled when police stopped one of the accused who was approaching the house they believed the target was staying at.

The bailed bikie is also charged with conspiracy to cause serious harm to a fellow member of the motorcycle gang.

Prosecutors allege that in May 2021 the man and other members of the Comanchero planned to lure that target to the Adelaide Aquatic Centre where he would be beaten with poles and bats.

Police told the target, who then called senior Comanchero members to make amends.

Mrs Shaw said the targets of both plots were refusing to co-operate with police.

Finally, the man is charged with trafficking large commercial quantities of methamphetamine.

Prosecutors allege he was handling the drug as part of a syndicate and was also linked to 2kg of the drug found in a van near his home.

In an alleged separate plot foiled by Operation Ironside, the planned shooting of an underworld figure near a cafe on The Parade, Norwood was prevented by police confiscating both the planned murder weapon, a machine gun, and the getaway vehicle, a high-powered motorcycle.