Judge rules it would be ‘inhuman’ to send Hells Angels bikie Daryl John Polley to prison given his role as a full-time carer
Words like polite, caring and kind don’t normally spring to mind when describing a bikie. But in the case of Hells Angels bikie “Bruta” a judge found it would be “inhuman” to send him to jail.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Words like polite, caring and kind do not readily spring to mind when describing a fully patched member of the Hells Angels with no desire to leave the club.
But in the unusual case of Daryl John Polley – aka “Bruta” – those epithets and more were all used to convince a court that he should not be sent to prison.
Polley, 59, was sentenced earlier this month to three years, two months, three weeks and three days in prison with a non-parole period of two years and two months for trafficking methamphetamine and money laundering.
However, District Court Judge Jo-Anne Deuter ruled it would be “inhuman” to make Polley spend that time behind bars given his unusual reason for starting to sell drugs.
During submissions, Jon Lister, for Polley, told the court his client had indulged in the first truly serious criminal offending of his life in order to take his terminally ill partner of 40 years on a holiday.
Polley, a former tattoo artist and truck driver, was arrested at the house of a friend in Penfield on December 8, 2020, after officers found 50g of methamphetamine in a hidden compartment.
Polley was searched and found to be in the possession of $11,100 in cash and 3g of cocaine.
In his ute parked outside, police located a further $16,950 in cash, 20g of methamphetamine, 1g of cocaine and 2.8g of MDMA.
When he was arrested, Polley was wearing a Hells Angels jacket and T-shirt.
A photo of him taken shortly after his arrest shows him wearing a shirt emblazoned with the letters AFFA.
The acronym is commonly used by the Hells Angels and stands for Angels Forever, Forever Angels.
At his home, police found numerous items of Hells Angels clothing and memorabilia.
Polley was at his friend’s house both to sell the drugs and also to pick up Christmas presents the owner had purchased for Polley’s partner.
Mr Lister told the court Polley had only taken to selling drugs to make money quickly to try and fund a holiday for his partner before she became too sick to travel.
An affidavit provided by a police officer experienced in investigating Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs said he believed Polley had been a member of the Hells Angels since at least 1995.
On February 2 of that year, Polley was pulled over in Mount Gambier on a motorbike wearing full Hells Angels colours.
The same thing happened on January 31, 2000 in Northfield and again in October, 2003, when he identified himself as the secretary of the Hells Angels North Crew chapter.
In October 2009, police raided the Hells Angels North Crew chapter’s clubrooms and found Polley’s mobile number next to the nickname “Bruta” on several lists of contacts.
On February 8, 2019, Polley was stopped and photographed by police in Western Australia as part of a Hells Angels national run.
Mr Lister accepted on Polley’s behalf that his client was a member of the Hells Angels and had joined in part because of a love for motorbikes. He also told the court Polley had no intention to leave the club.
Despite the decades-long membership, Judge Deuter said Polley had an extensive but relatively minor criminal history involving only one violent offence in 1999.
Judge Deuter said Polley was his partner’s primary carer as she lived out the final days of a terminal breast cancer diagnosis.
A friend of Polley’s wrote a letter to the court saying the offending was out character and describing him as “patient and loving” with his partner and a “trustworthy, kind, caring and compassionate person who would drop everything to help friends or family”.
Taking into account Polley’s membership in the Hells Angels, Judge Deuter said she could not suspend the sentence she imposed.
However, she said that Polley’s role as a carer mitigated against sending him to jail.
“I find that in your partner’s very sad circumstances it would be inhuman to refuse to make a home detention order,” she said.
“The situation is out of the ordinary, given your partner’s terminal illness, and the full-time carer role you have provided now for over 15 months.”
Shocking crash on major Adelaide road
A car has slammed into a Stobie pole at Waterloo Corner, causing traffic to be diverted.
‘Australia made me weak’: Cocaine Cassie’s explosive book claims
Cassie Sainsbury reveals her shame and secret battle behind moving back to Australia after she survived a ‘torturous’ prison in her new bombshell memoir. Read the exclusive book extract.