Peter John McMillan refused bail over charges of conspiracy to commit murder and being part of a criminal organisation

A man arrested as part of Operation Ironside was allegedly referring to fellow bikies, not his actual brother, when he used the term “bro”, a court has heard.

A man arrested during Operation Ironside and accused of planning the murder of a man has been refused bail as a court hears allegations his references to “bro” and “brother” were directed at fellow bikies.

Peter John McMillan, 27, of Rosewater, is charged with conspiracy to murder and participating in a criminal organisation over the alleged plot to shoot a man at Rosslyn Park in May this year.

Mr McMillan applied for bail, asking to be released on strict home-detention conditions.

David Edwardson QC, for Mr McMillan, said there was no evidence linking his client to phones equipped with the encrypted AN0M app.

One of the central arguments put forward by Mr Edwardson was that a message relating to a firearm could not have been sent by his client.

“He’s alleged to have said ‘Has the Glock been dropped off to my brother today? I’m going to check it to make sure it’s all good’,” Mr Edwardson said. He said the message could not possibly be from his client because he only had one brother, who was younger and lived interstate.

A prosecutor told the court messages allegedly linked to Mr McMillan were littered with references to “brother” and “bro”.

“The premise of this charge is that this man is involved either directly or as an associate of other members with the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang, " he said.

“There are quite literally hundreds of references to the term bro and 88 references to the term brother used in the context of not referring to a biological sibling.

“Your Honour heard … that it couldn’t possibly be this man because his brother lives interstate,” the prosecutor told magistrate Michelle Sutcliffe.

“It is very much within the culture of that organisation that it is a brotherhood. The references to brother and bro read in their proper context clearly do not refer to biological siblings.”

The prosecutor also said messages on the phone appeared to show a plan to steal a bright green van full of electrical equipment.

That same van as pictured in the messages and described was found by police with a fingerprint matching the accused,” he said.

“This is only a sample of the messages. This is by no means all of the evidence which will be used to establish (ownership of the phone).”

Mr Edwardson said the evidence before the court was based largely on police opinion.

“Police officers have opinions every day of the week but that does not translate into admissible evidence and absolute proof,” he said.

Ms Sutcliffe refused Mr McMillan bail, citing the seriousness of the alleged offending.

He will next appear in court in February next year.

Originally published as Peter John McMillan refused bail over charges of conspiracy to commit murder and being part of a criminal organisation