CCTV throws doubt on Tevita Pangai Jr haircut claim before barber shop raid
Besieged Brisbane Broncos star Tevita Pangai Jr was simply at a barber shop for a haircut before it was raided by police, according to a bikie lawyer. But CCTV footage doesn’t seem to back that claim.
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Besieged Brisbane Broncos star Tevita Pangai Jr was allegedly caught on camera taking a signed club jersey to a bikie-owned barber shop targeted in a police raid.
Pangai Jr, who is set to have his $650,000 contract torn up by the Broncos, was described by a bikie lawyer on Tuesday as “innocent collateral damage” in the weekend raid on the Windaroo barber shop linked by police to the Mongols bikie gang.
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Alleged Mongol and underworld family identity Harley Barbaro was arrested after the raid but his lawyer said Pangai Jr was just there for a haircut.
However, CCTV footage revealed that the Broncos enforcer and Tongan international did not get a haircut but took a personally signed Brisbane jersey to the shop to give to a mate, police sources told The Courier-Mail.
Barbaro’s lawyer, Campbell MacCallum, said Pangai Jr was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“He certainly has no affiliation whatsoever with any motorcycle group, he was just a friend of another person that was there,” Mr MacCallum said outside Southport Magistrates Court after Barbaro was granted bail.
“He went there for a haircut – he wasn’t aware that there was going to be other motorcycle group members there and he seemed to be the innocent collateral damage in all of this.
“They’re (Pangai Jr and Barbaro) not friends, they don’t know each other. They’ve never met. It just happened to be coincidence that he (Pangai Jr) was there on the day.”
Barbaro, 27, was charged with breaching bail for offences including consorting with alleged outlaw bikie gang members.
Police opposed bail for Barbaro in Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Defence barrister Marty Longhurst told the court that Barbaro had become the “bogeyman” for Taskforce Maxima.
Mr Longhurst said the arresting officer had described Barbaro as a “habitual career criminal” despite him having “never received anything greater than a fine”.
Barbaro had been subjected to “vague assertions” in the police objection to bail which was “all sizzle and no steak” with “no smoking gun”, Mr Longhurst said.
He said Barbaro worked at a Carina barber shop called Black Canvas and was at the opening of a new franchise at Windaroo.
Magistrate Michelle Dooley said she was concerned that Barbaro had breached a bail condition not to have contact with three men.
But she said the bail condition was “very vague” and released Barbaro until his next court appearance on August 27.
Mr MacCallum said: “It seems a little bit unfair that he seems to be constantly harassed and targeted (by police).”
Originally published as CCTV throws doubt on Tevita Pangai Jr haircut claim before barber shop raid