Geelong bikies and the crimes that landed them in court and jail
From a machete attack to assaults, unsolved murders and clubhouse explosions, Geelong’s bikies have been involved a range of shocking crimes with some leading to significant jail time.
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From a machete attack to assaults, unsolved murders and clubhouse explosions, Geelong’s bikies have been involved a range of shocking crimes with some leading to significant jail time.
Here are some of the Geelong men from Australia’s outlaw motorcycle gangs that have made it through the courts.
KARL HOLT
Karl ‘Bang Bang’ Holt, 35, was put back behind bars late last year after he was caught with drugs and money in Bell Park.
Among the stash was 38g of ice, along with ecstasy, Xanax and $2000 cash.
He pleaded guilty, telling a court in January he was ready to turn his life around.
At the time of his arrest, the Grovedale man had only been out of jail for several months after being sentenced in connection with the same investigation that swept up former Cats coach Mark Thompson.
Holt, a one-time tennis prodigy who has ties with the Bandidos bikie gang, was jailed in 2019 for 2½ years for drugs and weapons charges, but was released in mid-2020 due to time served on remand.
JOHN FORD
Ford, an ex-Rebels bikie, was jailed for up to seven years in 2020 for a brutal machete attack on a stranger at South Geelong train station in 2019.
His victim was left with a gaping wound in his arm and dripping in blood.
Ford, 48, was paranoid Rebels’ members were out to get him after he walked out on the gang after 20 years.
The father of five armed himself with a machete for protection when he crossed paths with the 41-year-old male victim on a V-Line train in February 2019.
Bleeding heavily the victim rode his bike to St John of God Geelong Hospital and crawled to the door.
The victim told a court hearing in 2019 that he was “extremely anxious” before Ford’s arrest and didn’t want to leave his home after returning from hospital following the attack.
CAMERON STANKOVSKI
One-time Bandido bikie Stankovski, who was a talented junior soccer player, faced court in 2019 where he was fined $15,000 for drug possession and dealing in the proceeds of crime.
Anti-bikie task force detectives were serving Stankovski, 30, with a firearm prohibition order at his Armstrong Creek home in 2019 when they found more than $19,000 and drugs.
More than $7000 in cash was found in rubber bands on the top shelf of a wardrobe, and $11,830 in the centre console of an unlocked car at the house.
When asked about the money found in the car, Stankovski told police it was payment for his work driving a forklift at the Epping market.
JOHN DONNELLY
Donnelly, a former sergeant-at-arms at the Geelong chapter of the Rebels motorcycle club, was jailed in February 2019 for eight years for multiple crimes.
The crimes included the rebirthing racket, gun possession, fleeing police at high speed, and stealing cars, boats and caravans.
When police caught Donnelly, 36, and his mistress sleeping in a caravan in a storage facility at Leopold they found a military-grade AR-15 assault rifle with silencer and laser sight at their bedside, a .22 revolver, ammo and drugs.
Police later searched Donnelly’s family home at Drysdale where a hidden hydraulic trap door in the garage revealed a secret storage compartment about the size of a phone box.
It contained a “treasure trove” of evidence, including vehicle registration documents and his Rebels colours.
As part of the racket, 10 boats, eight caravans and eight cars, including a $300,000 Mercedes-Benz, were stolen.
In a ruling handed down last June, the Court of Appeal dismissed Donnelly’s plea for an early release.
BRADLEY AZZOPARDI
Azzopardi, a Bandidos bikie club member, was jailed for more than six years in 2017 after killing Corio cyclist Gordon Ibbs while driving, before spending the next six months trying to hide the crime from police.
The Whittington man was sentenced to seven years and nine months in jail with a non-parole period of six years and nine months.
The Geelong County Court heard there were two compelling reasons Azzopardi should not have been driving on the day he killed Mr Ibbs.
Azzopardi, who has “no comment” tattooed on the side of his face, drove despite his poor eyesight and the fact his licence had been cancelled for a string of previous driving offences.
Judge Gerard Mullaly said aside from the belated plea of guilty, Azzopardi had shown no remorse for his crime, and there seemed little chance he would rehabilitate.
MARK MATTHEWS
Matthews, a former Geelong Bandidos enforcer, was jailed for seven years in 2019 after bashing a woman known to him.
The brutal and sustained assault left his victim in hospital for three days with a missing tooth and cuts and bruises across her face.
The woman was at home with two young children in October 2016 when Matthews broke in through a locked security door and viciously attacked her with a piece of wood.
County Court Judge Meryl Sexton described Matthews’ actions as “cowardly” and a “terrifying” display of violence.
A jury found Matthews, 60, guilty of aggravated burglary, common assault and two counts of intentionally causing injury.
UNSOLVED MURDER OF EARL MOORING
Outlaw bikie gang the Bandidos were linked to the torture death of Geelong security guard Earl Mooring in 2003.
Mooring, 54, was lured to a Whittington house in October 2000 where he was assaulted, before being bashed and tortured at a second home.
His body was thrown into his car boot and driven to New South Wales, where he was dumped down an embankment.
Police believed he was the victim of a bungled robbery after those close to him discovered he had a $120,000 cache saved for retirement.
CLUBHOUSE GUN TARGET
A series of gunshots were fired at the Bandidos bikie gang’s Geelong headquarters in 2007.
More than 30 bullet holes were visible in the Bayldon Court building in Breakwater after the attack, although it’s believed some were the result of earlier incidents.
A car parked outside the empty clubhouse was also peppered with gun shots.
At the time of the incident, there were claims the Bandidos were engaged in a turf war with the Rebels motorcycle club.
The national secretary of the Bandidos motorcycle club, who lived in Geelong said the club was unable to comment publicly on the attack.
JOHN RUSSELL BEDSON
Bikie killer John Russell Bedson received a 23-year jail sentence for murdering Ross Brand in a drive-by shooting in Breakwater in 2008.
Bedson, a founding member of Rebels motorcycle club offshoot Death Before Dishonour, shot at the Bandidos’ Breakwater clubhouse in October 2008, to avenge an alleged assault.
Brand was shot in the head and died in hospital the next day.
Another man was also shot through both thighs.
The judges found the harm inflicted by Bedson was “out of all proportion’’.
They also ruled there was “little if any” evidence suggesting a lesser alternative charge was a rational option for the wounding offence.
CLUBHOUSE EXPLOSION
Dramatic CCTV footage captured an explosion on Australia Day in 2016 that caused extensive damage to the Bandidos’ Breakwater clubhouse.
Two men were seen going behind a wall protecting the entrance of the Bayldon Court clubhouse, running away seconds before the area was engulfed in a ball of fire.
Police said shrapnel from the explosion pierced several cars nearby and could have killed either the attackers or members of the public.
At the time, police were investigating whether the explosion was the result of infighting at the club, or an external disagreement.
No one was injured or inside the clubhouse at the time of the incident.
Originally published as Geelong bikies and the crimes that landed them in court and jail
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