Killers with the brains of schoolkids: Terrifying reality of life in a bikie gang

The horrifying truth of life inside some of the state’s most notorious gangs has been revealed by former outlaw bikies.

Former outlaw bikies have revealed the horrifying truth of life inside some of the state’s most notorious gangs, including how they were asked to beat, torture and even kill their enemies.

Speaking out after escaping a life of violence but still living in fear of retribution, one bikie told The Sunday Mail revenge killings were part of life in the gang.

Military-trained reformed bikie, Shane – not his real name – joined a well-known Queensland gang in 2010 after a relative was recruited.

Soon he was used by senior gang members to intimidate and stand over enemies.

Within months of joining, he was promoted to sergeant-at-arms and in just two years he was president of his own chapter.

“(I) got asked to beat (enemies) up, smash their doors open, strip them naked, tie them up. Got asked to kill,” he said. “I’d been asked to do some standover of people who owe (a debt) and take things from them … Take their money, their vehicles.”

He stayed a patched member for seven or eight years before he left – but within days, three club members stormed his home and assaulted him.

“They’re very immature and they hurt each other or kill each other, sometimes over material s--t,” Shane said. “It’s like they’re still in school.”

Shane said he could have been sucked back into the gang if not for a police officer approaching him last year as part of a bikie reform program.

Another bikie associate, Will – again, an alias – was only 16 when OMCGs took hold of his life.

Former bikies have lifted the lid on life on the inside.

“He bought pills off someone he believed to be a dealer,” his mother Michelle said. “He didn’t realise it was gang drugs and they ... gave him a bit of a beating. They were drugs only for members of the club and the debt was a lot more than what he paid … he was trapped owing a debt.”

Although he never became a patched member, the gang controlled Will for years. He would attempt suicide, battle anxiety and depression, and land in about $30,000 of debt. Despite hating “the evil world”, Michelle said her son was too terrified to leave.

“The intimidation strategies kept him doing what they required him to do.”

Michelle remembers every detail of the day Will told her about the grasp the OMCG had on him.

“He asked to go for a drive … and he let it rip basically.

“It literally turned my whole life upside down and inside out. It tested my faith, my perception of the world, my parenting style.

“It was kind of like the good and evil had mixed together and I had to work out the grey. I had a son I love more than anything and I have a son who was involved in a world that I 100 per cent completely disagree with.

“I didn’t know what to do. He was asking for my help but we had nowhere to go or nowhere he felt safe.”

A Facebook ad led Michelle to the Queensland Police OMCG Exit program. Headed by bikie-busting officer Detective Acting Chief Superintendent Roger Lowe, the program, which has helped 29 bikies or associates, offers a way out for those in the grip of organised crime.

Detective Acting Chief Superintendent Roger Lowe

“It’s about getting them back to be productive members of society and getting them on their feet,” Superintendent Lowe said.

“But the number one objective is to stop crime.”

The first 24 former bikies to participate in the program committed a combined 355 offences prior to getting help. Since entering the program, they have committed four.

“That benefits those involved in the program, but it also benefits the Queensland community,” he said.

The program is tailored for an individual. It helped Will through mental health struggles, and led to a job. “The message is, you can make a better choice for your life and for your community. There’s nothing to be lost by reaching out and much to be gained,” Superintendent Lowe said.

The exit program is not an informant program and instead sees the roughest criminals learn to trust police officers, including Detective Sergeant Dominic Boland.

“If Dom hadn’t rung me, I probably would’ve been selling drugs by now,” Shane said.

Michelle said she had feared Will would return back to the life he loathed.

“I worried so many times on so many nights,” she said.

“But in all honesty I actually think he would have taken his own life before he let the gang take him.

“He hated that world. He hates that world so much and was never a willing participant in it.

“I was the only anchor that he had left to keep him in this world ... there was no option but to love him and find that help for him.”