Dean Stephen Reid faces ACT Supreme Court over violent Canberra home invasion
Dean Reid is now ‘mature’, his heartbroken on-again off-again girlfriend says, despite him being involved in a home invasion in which a man’s leg was broken by a guitar.
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A former elite boxer turned to a life of drugs and violence after his stepfather roped him in to joining the Rebels bikie gang, a court has heard.
Dean Stephen Reid, now the president of the upstart Canberra chapter of the Satudarah outlaw bikie gang, and co-offender David Michael Evans, fronted the ACT Supreme Court on Friday for sentencing hearings.
The duo had previously pleaded guilty to a string of charges related to a violent suburban home invasion, in which a man’s leg was broken with a guitar.
Reid’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, Samantha Catanzariti, told the court Reid had changed dramatically since his time in the AIS boxing program.
Ms Catanzariti, who has no links to any outlaw organisations, said she believed Reid joined the Rebels under pressure from his stepfather, a senior member in that gang.
Ms Catanzariti said she asked Reid to quit the gang “on numerous times”.
She said Reid told her he wanted to quit after his first stint in jail.
She said when Reid lived with her he was under strict rules, including “no club, working, keeping healthy and fit, living a good life”.
Reid, she said, started taking ice when after his father died, and had tried to quit the drug.
Ms Catanzariti said she visited Reid every weekend at Canberra’s prison, the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
“We just talk about the future,” she said.
“He just can’t believe what the last 12 months of his live have been like.
She said she understood he would be spending a long time in jail, “and it breaks my heart”.
“I honestly, truly believe that he is trying hard to do all he can,” she said.
“I hope that he can live with me again and start a positive relationship.”
Under cross-examination, Ms Catanzariti said Reid “has been through a lot in his life and he’s matured a lot”.
She said she had read about Reid’s offending in the media and in court documents.
“It’s not the Dean I know,” she said.
“I know that Dean is a good person and would not have done this had he not been under the influence of drugs.
“He’s sorry for what he’s done and can have a positive future.”
“He’s volunteered with children, working with children in boxing gyms, I don’t think a violent person would teach young children his skills.”
She said a Rebels T-shirt found at his house during a police raid “could have just been an old piece of clothing”.
Reid and Evans will be sentenced at a later date.