John Bradley De Graaf pleads guilty in Roma Magistrates Court to wearing a prohibited item

A man who had taken the first steps to becoming a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang has already landed in Roma Magistrates Court. Here’s what happened.

A man just embarking on his journey towards becoming a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang has been stopped short and landed in court.

John Bradley De Graaf pleaded guilty in Roma Magistrates Court to wearing a prohibited item, namely the symbol of an outlaw motorcycle gang.

At about 1.30pm in October 2022, police intercepted a group of motorcyclists en route to Surat.

Police stopped what they confirmed as a motorcycle gang for licence checks and breath tests.

During the ordeal, police observed De Graaf wearing a black hoodie with the letters ‘SYLO’ in bold white font printed on it, the court was told.

A similar version of the prohibited symbol and phrase on the hoodie worn by John Bradley De Graaf.

Police prosecution said this word was unique to the Outlaws Gang and stands for “support your local outlaw”.

De Graaf was requested to hand over his SYLO hoodie, which was illegal to wear.

When taking off his hoodie, police observed the defendant was wearing a particular patch underneath which they recognised as the first step to becoming a member of the gang.

Police prosecution noted that while he “had a lot of low level offending going on”, he had no other previous convictions of a similar offence.

Magistrate Shane Elliott handed De Graaf a $650 fine referred to SPER and a conviction was recorded.