Mongols bikie gang member who broke man’s jaw ‘a product of troubled childhood’, court hears

Prosecutors say a further charge remains ‘simply an allegation’ but is ‘linked inextricably to this man’s involvement now with a criminal organisation’.

Douglas Thompson, 27, was found guilty by a Supreme Court jury in August of unlawfully causing serious harm after punching the other man in the head.

A “patched member” of the Mongols Outlaw Motorcycle Gang who broke another man’s jaw during an altercation at his Marrakai home will have to continue to stew on his sentence behind bars.

Douglas Thompson, 27, was found guilty by a Supreme Court jury in August of unlawfully causing serious harm after punching the other man in the head in September 2021.

In sentencing submissions on Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Marty Aust said it was “farcical” to suggest Thompson had good prospects for rehabilitation given his membership of the gang.

Mr Aust said Thompson had since been charged with further offending, which remained “simply an allegation” but was “linked inextricably to this man’s involvement now with a criminal organisation”.

“He’s a patched member, he’s not a hanger-on, your honour,” he said.

“In those circumstances it really is, in my submission, farcical to suggest that this is a man who has really good prospects of rehabilitation.”

But in arguing for his client to be assessed by a psychologist prior to sentencing, defence barrister Nicholas Goodfellow said Thompson’s childhood had been “coloured by extreme acts of violence and neglect”.

Mr Goodfellow said Thompson had been born to drug addicted parents before his violent father died from a heroin overdose while he was a young child.

“This environment that he was born into, it’s not the case that the death of the father freed the family from the troubles that they had inflicted on them — the mother continued to struggle with drug use,” he said.

“He has this complex history coloured by trauma that I think comes to a high point with the death of his mother in 2018.

“In this long history of trauma he’s never seen anyone about what happened.”

Mr Goodfellow said there were “a variety of positive factors that bode well for his rehabilitation” which he would address following the psychological assessment.

When asked by Justice Jenny Blokland if Thompson was in fact a patched member of the Mongols, Mr Goodfellow said “I haven’t had that discussion” with him because it had “no relevance to this offending”.

But Justice Blokland countered that “the company you keep” could be relevant to rehabilitation.

“That’s right and the company you keep can sometimes be a product of where you come from, unfortunately,” Mr Goodfellow replied.

“Thankfully we have some less murky, objective, clear facts here that point towards rehabilitation as opposed to casting a broad brush.”

Thompson was remanded in custody and will return to court on November 10.