Former Rebels NT bikie boss Lee Wiffen fined for drunken dust-up with housemate

The former Rebels NT chapter president’s lawyer said he was now ‘drug and alcohol free’, with the police supporting his transition from head honcho of the 1%ers to responsible family man.

Former NT chapter president of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang Lee Wiffen outside the Darwin Local Court after pleading guilty to assaulting another man in Howard Springs in 2022. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Former Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang NT chapter president Lee Wiffen has walked from court with a $1000 fine after admitting to shoving his housemate against a wall during a “drinking session” gone awry.

The 52-year-old pleaded guilty in the Darwin Local Court on Wednesday to assaulting the other man at the home they shared in Howard Springs in July 2022.

Prosecutor Lajita Allan-Agnew told the court Wiffen had been drinking on the evening in question and was intoxicated when he returned home at about 7pm and sat with the victim at an outdoor table.

Ms Allan-Agnew said the other man “became fearful for his safety and went into the bathroom” before getting a drink from the fridge and coming back outside.

It was there Ms Allan-Agnew said Wiffen pushed him “into the outside wall of the bathroom” and he “suffered harm to the left shoulder”, including “some temporary discomfort” before he called triple-0 and Wiffen was arrested.

Lee Wiffen’s lawyer told the court he had ‘changed his life’ and police were supportive of his transition out of the Rebels. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Defence lawyer Peter Maley said Wiffen had “changed his life since these events two years ago” and there was already a significant gap in his offending since resigning as head honcho of the gang.

“He was a member of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang, he left that group, the police have been supportive of that transition,” he said.

“He has spent 10 days on remand because of these charges, 12 months with electronic monitoring.”

Mr Maley said Wiffen now had a full-time job driving a truck, was regularly drug and alcohol tested and was “drug and alcohol free”.

“(It was) basically a drinking session, arguing and he shoved him into the wall and injured his shoulder,” he said.

Judge Alan Woodcock convicted Wiffen and fined him $1000 plus a $150 victims levy.

“I see your antecedence, I see the changes you’ve made, I’ve read the references from your employer,” he said.

“Obviously everyone’s entitled to live free of assault, it’s wrong to shove someone, a person got hurt.”

Originally published as Former Rebels NT bikie boss Lee Wiffen fined for drunken dust-up with housemate