Tama Lewis: Former Finks bikie released on parole

A former Finks bikie with alleged ties to the Mongols gang has been released from jail on parole, only months after his application was refused.

A FORMER Finks bikie with alleged ties to the Mongols gang has been released from jail on parole, only months after his application was refused.

Tama Lewis, otherwise known as Darren Watson, was facing the prospect of another year behind bars but walked from jail on parole earlier this month.

He had been at Borallon prison near Ipswich serving 10 years, six months and 22 days for multiple sentences.

Lewis, who became eligible for release in November 2020, was rejected for parole in May this year.

The 37-year-old self-represented himself during a judicial review of the decision, which was ultimately dismissed in August.

But he walked from jail this month after applying for parole a second time.

The Bulletin understands he has already been issued a consorting notice since his release.

The 37-year-old was last jailed on charges of assault occasioning bodily harm (domestic violence), threatening violence and a drug offence.

Tama Lewis has been released on parole after his application was previously refused.

The parole board confirmed Lewis’s application was refused in May, but approved in August after a second attempt at freedom.

In its reasons for parole, released on Friday, the board stated that Lewis had consistently engaged with a psychologist, his behaviour had improved behind bars, and he had returned two clear drug tests.

Further, he took “full responsibility” for his domestic violence offending, was employed in custody, had support from family and friends, and had a job lined up for when he was released.

Lewis was a key player in the Finks’ grip on the Glitter Strip in 2012, helping the club go from minor criminal offences to one of the most feared gangs in the city, the Bulletin reported at the time.

On his Instagram page he says he is a “lover of bikes” and references “Mongols M.C”.

The former nightclub bouncer, who boasted on social media he earned $250,000 a year as a stand-over man, used the slogan: “Don’t play games with the ref, remember I make the rules’’.

According to 2012 reports, Lewis was described in legal circles as the “charming psychopath”.

At the time he had the word “terror” tattooed on one arm, and “team” on the other, and once kicked a security door out of its frame during a home invasion in 2009.

In February 2012, he was jailed in the Supreme Court on serious drug charges after supplying an undercover cop with more than $90,000 worth of ecstasy and speed, and trafficking methamphetamines and MDMA.

He was arrested three years earlier after the covert Australian Crime Commission investigation Operation Creed into the Finks motorcycle group and the drug trade.

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Originally published as Tama Lewis: Former Finks bikie released on parole