Christopher ‘Badness’ Binse went on five-month crime spree and stalked man he believed had shot a bikie mate, court told

UPDATE: WATCH the video of the criminal dubbed “Badness” whose five-month crime spree ended in a siege, a court heard.

A VIOLENT criminal dubbed “Badness” went on a five-month crime spree, which began with him stalking an enemy he believed shot his bikie mate and culminated in a two-day siege with police in Melbourne’s north-west, a court has heard.

CCTV footage of the May 2012 siege and an earlier terrifying armed robbery perpetrated by Christopher Binse — during which he stole $235,000 from two Armaguard employees in Laverton — was shown to the Supreme Court.

Prosecutor Peter Chadwick, QC, said the 45-year-old fired at least nine shots during the violent 44-hour stand-off with police, with bullets hitting an armoured police vehicle, a police robot, and one travelling through two fences to a busy suburban street in Keilor East.

The siege that gripped Melbourne ended after police used tear gas to force Binse out, before firing beanbag rounds at him as he tried to pick up his discarded revolver, stolen from a guard during the armed robbery.

During the siege, police found a cache of weapons — including a fully automatic and semi-automatic machine gun, a rifle with a silencer and modified to fire fully automatic and a sawn-off and loaded shotgun — as well as balaclavas, face masks, ballistic vests and wigs when they searched storage units rented by Binse.

Defence counsel Saul Holt SC said Binse collected the arsenal of weapons because he believed a man, who cannot be named and with whom he shared “bad blood”, shot his mate in an attempted murder and was going to assault him.

Mr Holt said Binse was assaulted “by four bikies” soon after his November 2011 release from prison and spoke about fears to another man, who was later shot dead.

The man Binse feared would attack him has been charged with that murder.

Mr Holt said Binse obtained a bag full of weapons to protect himself and his daughter and began wearing a ballistic vest in the days before the siege after attending the same boxing match as Comancheros boss Amad “Jah” Malkoun and underworld figure Mick Gatto.

He said Binse, a “difficult” prisoner who spent most of his time in the restrictive management unit, had spent only a few of his adult years out of jail and had told authorities he was not ready to be released into the community.

“The word institutionalised is possibly made for Christopher Binse,” Mr Holt said.

“He didn’t think he could cope on the outside and he was absolutely right.”

The court heard that in January 2012, Binse began stalking the man he feared would attack him, placing a tracking device on his car, searching public records for information about him and hiring a private investigator.

In the same month, police located an automatic handgun with a silencer and laser pointer in Binse’s car.

In March, Binse committed the armed robbery outside the Westside Hotel in Laverton, telling police he was desperate and needed the cash.

Mr Chadwick said the crime was organised, with Binse cutting fences, creating spyholes and taking equipment prior to the offence to ensure a speedy getaway.

An elderly woman is seen on CCTV footage running from the hotel car park when Binse pointed a sawn-off pump action shotgun at the guards from over a nearby fence.

In the days before the siege, Binse noticed police looking at his motorbike as he was leaving Nidrie La Porchetta and fled the restaurant, showing one officer his revolver and stealing a police radio.

In mid-February, a jury found Binse not guilty of threatening to kill three men during the La Porchetta incident.

Binse pleaded guilty to armed robbery, being a prohibited person using a firearm and being in possession of firearms, reckless conduct placing persons in danger of serious injury and theft.

The plea hearing continues.