Supreme Court action to stop two senior Rebels Malta party trip

Police are taking Supreme Court action to stop the son and nephew of exiled Rebels bikie Alex Vella travelling to Malta for a family celebration.

Police have launched Supreme Court action to stop the son and nephew of notorious exiled Rebels leader Alex Vella from visiting him in Malta for a family celebration.

The Advertiser can reveal Alex Vella jnr and Damien Vella – who are both senior Rebels members – last week successfully sought a variation to their bail conditions in Adelaide Magistrates Court to travel to Malta, despite police opposing the move.

The pair, from Horsley Park and West Hoxton in NSW, are before the court charged with one count each of being present with two or more criminal organisation participants after being arrested in Adelaide on March 10.

When they appeared in court on March 11 prosecutors did not oppose bail for the pair and they were released on the condition they returned to NSW, did not leave NSW and did not go near any international departure point.

Damien Vella – acting national president of the Rebels.

They were also prohibited from having any contact with members of any declared criminal organisation – particularly other Rebels members. A $1,000 surety was also imposed.

However, on March 16 lawyers acting for the pair appeared before Magistrate Michelle Sutcliffe and successfully sought a variation to their bail conditions – which police opposed.

The variation granted allows the pair to travel to Malta between March 17 and April 7. In allowing the variation, Magistrate Sutcliffe increased the cash surety to $10,000.

However, police successfully sought a 72 hour delay to allow an appeal against the variation to be lodged in the Supreme Court. That appeal will be heard by Chief Justice Chris Kourakis later today.

Exiled Rebels bikie boss Alex Vella in Malta. picture David Dyson

Alex Vella snr is one of hundreds of bikie gang members and other criminals who have been kicked out of Australia or barred from returning under Section 501 of the Migration Act that allows an individuals’ visa to be cancelled on character grounds.

Vella snr was on holiday in his native Malta in 2014 when his visa to return to Australia was cancelled by the Federal Government. Vella spent almost a year fighting the move and ultimately lost a High Court appeal which declared the move was lawful.

At the time Vella was national president of the Rebels and leading a vigorous expansion of the gang across the nation.

Numerous SA bikies and criminal figures have also suffered the same fate including failed gang leader and petty criminal Vince Focarelli who fled to Malaysia after being advised his visa was being cancelled, Mongols office holder Andrew Peter Stevens who was deported to the UK and violent Adelaide underworld figure Leonard Gjeka who was deported to his native Albania.