Ex-bikie enforcer Toby Mitchell taking police to VCAT over gun ban
FORMER bikie enforcer Toby Mitchell has become the first to challenge Victoria’s tough new gun bans — 10-year orders that allow police to raid properties, search cars and frisk people without a warrant.
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FORMER bikie enforcer Toby Mitchell has become the first to challenge Victoria’s tough new gun bans.
Mitchell, among Melbourne’s most notorious underworld figures, will fight Victoria Police over the Firearm Prohibition Order (FPO) issued to him about a month ago.
The 10-year orders — touted as a gangbusting weapon — allow police to raid properties, search cars and frisk people without a warrant.
Mitchell, 43, told the Sunday Herald Sun the orders were police harassment and that he had never carried a gun.
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He also complained that a police search conducted after he was served with the gun-ban order had left his luxury CBD apartment in a mess.
“It’s just police harassment,’’ said Mitchell, who intends to fight the ban at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
“They can now raid me and search me for no reason without a warrant, wherever I am, 24 hours a day.
“I’m going to give it my best shot at beating it, as I don’t believe I should be on the list. I’ve never carried a gun in my whole life.
“I’m fighting it because there’s no reason for it. I’m not a bikie. I’m an ex-bikie.
“A gun ban is not going to worry me or change my life one bit. I’ve never had a gun charge. Never even a bullet.
“But people don’t understand. It means I, or anyone with me, can be searched 24 hours a day wherever I am. They’re using me to erode everybody’s rights.’’
Mitchell was among the initial 85 “high risk’’ people to be issued with an FPO, 53 of them personally served by police since the new law came into effect on May 9.
The new legislation has been dubbed a “game changer” by police and politicians in the fight against organised crime and gun violence.
Anyone served with an order may not acquire, possess or use a firearm or a firearm-related item, or even enter a premises where guns are sold or used, including shooting ranges.
Once an FPO is served, police can search the recipient’s home and vehicle or anyone in their company if they are suspected of possessing a firearm or ammunition.
The order stays in place for 10 years for adults and five years for young offenders aged 14-17.
The maximum penalty for breaching an FPO is 10 years in jail. Mitchell, who lives in a Southbank high-rise, claimed police had raided him needlessly on several occasions in the past year.
Asked whether he felt police had targeted him in the past, Mitchell answered: “Always.’’
The gold-toothed gym junkie has previously been charged with possessing a stun gun and flick knife found during a raid on a Docklands apartment, but denied they belonged to him.
Mitchell was critically injured after being shot by two gunmen outside Doherty’s Gym in Brunswick in 2011 — and was again ambushed during a bikie clash in Melton in Melbourne’s outer west in 2013.
He would later quit the Bandidos outlaw motorcycle club as its national sergeant-at-arms.
Police have continued to serve FPOs since the initial tranche went out, but will not divulge how many have been issued.
Bikie gang members and those involved with Middle Eastern organised crime gangs have been major targets for the orders.
Police Minister Lisa Neville said she had faith in Victoria Police to use the new powers correctly.
“These tough new laws are designed to target individuals associated with serious and organised crime and they are already proving a success,’’ she said.
“Police have already issued more than 50 orders to individuals who police have serious concerns about.
“Like any police power there are appeal rights, but we are very confident that we’ve got the balance right and we are backing the judgement of police who are issuing the FPOs.’’