The big-name bikies in trouble with the law
Outlaw motorcycle gangs are no strangers to run-ins with police, but this year some of Victoria’s most high-profile bikies will be fronting court.
Police & Courts
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Outlaw motorcycle gangs are no strangers to run-ins the law, but this year some of Victoria’s bikie bosses are set to appear in court.
MONGOLS
Toby Mitchell
Mongols president Toby Mitchell is no stranger to Melbourne’s court precinct, appearing multiple times in the past 12 months, often with his trusted barrister Damian Sheales.
The bikie chief was slapped with a $2500 fine in September but escaped conviction for two separate street attacks in 2020, including an ugly incident in Southbank where he was knocked out by a homeless man.
Months later, Mitchell was sentenced to two months prison for allegedly striking a punter twice in the face during his birthday bash at an Echuca pub in November.
But within minutes of a magistrate ordering him to remain behind bars until the new year, Mitchell appealed his conviction and flagged he may contest the charges, after all.
He was bailed while he awaits an appeal hearing next year.
Mark Balsillie
Meanwhile, the club’s top enforcer, Mark Balsillie, will stand trial in 2022 after he was accused of possessing and trafficking cocaine.
The newly appointed national sergeant-at-arms for the outlaw motorcycle gang is set to fight the charges after pleading not guilty in August.
The 36-year-old has also denied possessing pre-filled syringes of testosterone and growth hormones and handling three luxury cars – including a Lamborghini and Mercedes Benz — which were suspected of being proceeds of crime between July 2019 and July 2020.
COMANCHERO
Mick Murray
Comanchero boss Mick Murray is facing charges related to a tax fraud operation by anti-bikie detectives.
Murray, 47, was arrested in November after Echo Taskforce detectives swooped on the gym owner, charging him with conspiring to dishonestly cause a loss to the commonwealth.
Murray was released on bail and will return to court in February.
FINKS
Kosh Radford
The Finks world president was given a lesson in fatherhood from a magistrate as he was slapped with a $6000 fine for his “thuggery” during a bikie punch-on at a Melbourne strip club.
Kosh Radford, also known as Koshan Rashidi, was fined and convicted on one court of assault following birthday bash-turned-brawl at the Centre Lounge on King St in March 2019.
Magistrate Timothy Bourke told Radford that good dads don’t find themselves in clubs at 6.30am after the bikie’s lawyer submitted he was a family man and stay-at home-dad for his two young children.
Pierce Williams
Finks henchman Pierce Williams was jailed in September for a violent home invasion sparked by a nude photo scandal.
Williams, 34, was sentenced in the County Court to a minimum three years’ jail after pleading guilty to aggravated burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary.
The Finks Cranbourne chapter member was recruited into the revenge plot after a fake Facebook account purporting to be bikie moll Tara Egglestone was created and semi-naked photos posted.
Egglestone suspected her ex-boyfriend was responsible for the online nude scandal and asked then Finks national president Brent “BJ” Reker to storm the man’s Hampton Park house on September 9, 2018.
Williams’ role during the burglary was to stand guard at the bedroom of the victim’s father.
HELLS ANGELS
Jasmin Destanovic
Hells Angels bikie boss Jasmin Destanovic fronted court on several charges related to an alleged $200,000 extortion plot during which police say he threatened to cut off a man’s fingers.
Destanovic is accused of attacking the man outside a hospital after the man’s wife had just given birth, allegedly punching and stabbing him while demanding money. The Nomad chapter president was bailed in April to face a committal hearing in April 2022.
BANDIDOS
Mark Matthews
Bandido enforcer Mark Matthews fronted court earlier this year in a bid to overturn a seven-year sentence for the brutal bashing of a woman in Geelong.
The sergeant-at-arms faces deportation to New Zealand after he was jailed in 2019 for breaking into the woman’s home and seriously assaulting her with a piece of wood while her two young children were nearby.
In February, Matthews took his fight to the Court of Appeal arguing against the jurors’ guilty verdict.
His appeal was refused and he remains behind bars.
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