Geelong bikies, organised criminals and associates who have ended up in court
Local police have warned bikies, organised criminals and their associates that they will not find a “safe haven” in the region. See some of the faces of Geelong’s underworld.
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With more bikies, organised criminals and their associates ending up in court for anything from firearm possession through to vicious assaults, local police have issued a stern warning that these groups will not find a “safe haven” in the Geelong region.
Victoria Police announced earlier this month that Geelong’s Local Crime Investigation Unit and Divisional Response Unit executed major arrests with VIPER, a taskforce that targets outlaw motorcycle gangs, organised crime gangs and local street gangs.
In total, 40 people were arrested and 129 charges laid following the week-long operation across Geelong, Lara, Norlane and Corio that targeted people known for violence, people prohibited from possessing a weapon and anyone know to traffic illegal drugs.
VIPER Taskforce’s Detective Senior Sergeant Leigh Howse said the Geelong operation was a “timely reminder” of what its officers are prepared to do to “support local police in the regions”.
“If you’re involved in organised crime and think regional Victoria is a safe haven, think again,” Detective Howse said.
“Local police and specialist units such as VIPER will come knocking on your door uninvited and make it as difficult as possible for you to commit criminal activity.”
This operation is just one of many the taskforce has executed across the Geelong region recently to crack down on organised crime, with most involving the seizure of drugs and firearms.
In July last year, specialist police dismantled a clandestine laboratory allegedly connected to patched members of the Rebels.
VIPER executed a search warrant in a Lara home and discovered the lab was allegedly being used to make methylamphetamine.
The same month, a taskforce arrested a separate Lara man as part of a large-scale operation aimed at dismantling firearm trafficking.
Police said they seized cannabis and 29 firearm related items, including stocks, scopes and ammunition.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Guthrie, with the Geelong Crime Investigation Unit, said police are prepared to work “hand-in-hand” with VIPER to keep “firearms out of the hands of local gang members and those with a history of serious violence”.
“These operations will continue to keep the heat on those prohibited from possessing a firearm due to their criminal history and association.
“The safety of the community is our number one priority and make no mistake, we will continue to come down hard on people who think they can get away with criminal activity, including drug trafficking or illegally possessing a firearm,” Detective Guthrie said.
Here are some Geelong bikies and their associates who have ended up before a court in the last few years:
WESLEY LARGE
A Lara man with an “obsession with firearms” faced court in September 2022 after being found with a number of guns.
Wesley Large faced the Geelong Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to around 20 charges, including possessing firearms while he was a prohibited person, burglary and driving offences.
Large was also sentenced to separate firearm charges after he was found guilty of possession in April 2022.
In July 2022, investigators from the Viper taskforce searched Large’s Lara home and found a number of firearms, including a pistol with a magazine and a black revolver handgun.
Investigators evacuated the house after finding unnamed chemicals used in the manufacturing of drugs of dependence. It is understood Large was not facing charges related to the chemicals.
KARL HOLT
Geelong underworld figure Karl “Bang Bang” Holt was found with a firearm and ice during a major police raid of his bungalow.
Holt faced the Geelong Magistrates Court in July last year and pleaded guilty to possessing the gun and drugs of dependence following the police search in April 2022.
Officers gained access to the bungalow via an open window and uncovered two grams of methamphetamine, a round of 40 calibre ammunition and a firearm cleaning kit.
Police noticed the bathroom window was ajar and a search of the neighbouring property found a semiautomatic hand gun.
They also located $161 in cash, a machete, a cash counter machine, drug paraphernalia, a vial of adrenaline and deal bags.
MARK MATTHEWS
Geelong bikie enforcer Mark Matthews lost a bid to appeal his lengthy jail term in February 2021 for the brutal assault of a woman.
Matthews, now 62, was locked up for more than a year after a jury found him guilty of charges including aggravated burglary, intentionally causing injury and assault.
In October 2016, Matthews viciously assaulted a woman known to him in an incident in her Norlane home.
Matthews, who was sergeant-at-arms of the Bandido’s Geelong chapter at the time, forced his way into the woman’s home while a 13-year-old girl and three-year-old boy were inside.
During a sustained attack, Matthews used a piece of wooden chair to repeatedly strike the woman to the head.
WADE WEBSDALE
The son of a bikie begged a magistrate to let him leave Geelong after he was busted with drugs and an imitation firearm.
Wade Websdale told a court in October last year that he kept offending because he was living in Geelong and wanted to move to Melton, but couldn’t because of existing court orders.
Websdale, the son of former Rebels Geelong chapter president Colin “Snake” Websdale, faced the Geelong Magistrates Court after he was found by police sleeping on a couch in Norlane next to an imitation firearm and an extendible baton.
Police raided the Norlane property and found 9.81 grams of methamphetamine and 17.57 grams of GHB in a satchel bag around his waist, a Stanley knife in his pocket and drug paraphernalia.
He pleaded guilty to possessing the firearm and drugs.
JOHN FORD
A former Rebels bikie said he was paranoid when he launched a brutal machete attack on a stranger at the South Geelong train station.
In June 2020, the County Court heard John Ford, 49, of Thomson, attacked the man after he walked on the Rebels and had armed himself with the machete out of a fear of retribution.
As the late-night service arrived at South Geelong, Ford noticed the man had spilt soft drink on his lap and joked, “he’s pissed himself”.
The 41-year-old victim exited the train with his bicycle and was subjected to further mocking from a woman with Ford.
He told the woman to “f--- off”, prompting Ford to swing at him.
AARON SAFFRON
Bandidos bikie Aaron Saffron was nabbed in 2021 for growing dozens of cannabis plants at his Newcomb home.
Geelong Magistrates Court heard police were conducting a compliance gun search of his home when they stumbled across a hydroponic set up containing 37 cannabis plants.
Saffron pleaded guilty to cultivating the cannabis.
The plants varied in size from mature to immature and it was accepted by the court that they were being grown for personal use.
Magistrate Peter Mellas said the hydroponic set up suggested there was a level of sophistication involved in Saffron’s offending.
JOHN DONNELLY
A former outlaw motorcycle club enforcer who used his position to threaten and intimidate a man who had made a compensation claim against him was slapped with more jail time.
While in jail, former sergeant at arms of the Rebels motorcycle club’s Geelong chapter John Donnelly was caught on tape telling his brother to tell the man: “You are aware of the people that he knows. Do you really want to go down that path?”
At the time, in late 2019, Donnelly was serving an eight-year jail term that included sentences for operating a vehicle rebirthing racket and possessing stolen parachutes at his Drysdale property.
The County Court heard Donnelly, who pleaded guilty, told his brother to offer the man up to $20,000 to settle the claim and to pose as an interested customer of his business to get his attention.
Donnelly then made repeated calls to his brother to check if the threats had reached the man.
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