By Heather McNeill and Zarisha Bradley
Heavily tattooed ex-bikie Dayne Brajkovich has won his legal battle after being found not guilty of displaying bikie insignia on Tuesday morning.
The former Hells Angel sergeant-at-arms went on trial in the Perth Magistrates Court in December, fighting allegations he wore a bikie-branded T-shirt while walking down an Ascot street in January 2022, and displayed a bikie tattoo at a Belmont shopping centre a few days later.
Displaying outlaw motorcycle gang insignia, including tattoos and clothing, was banned in Western Australia weeks before the alleged offences, with those who flouted the new laws facing a penalty of up to 12 months’ jail or a $12,000 fine.
During his trial, Brajkovich, 43, took the stand to deny he was the man captured on CCTV walking past Ascot Racecourse on January 21 wearing a Hells Angel T-shirt.
He claimed he had been kicked out of the gang five days earlier and had “got rid” of anything associated with the club to avoid “punching on” with anyone.
“I got told via phone call that I was out,” he said.
“They’re supposed to take all your gear off you, but nobody came so two days later I filled eight garbage bags with stuff and put them in a Good Sammy’s bin.
“I got rid of the lot.
“I wasn’t going to wear anything Hells Angels after they kicked me out like that.”
But police prosecutor Kim Briggs suggested the former club member was wearing the shirt on January 21 as a way to “spite” the club for the way he had been let go.
Brajkovich claimed the man in the CCTV footage was wearing a fake Hells Angels shirt, and that he himself didn’t “wear fake shit”, but wore “two hundred grand around my neck”, referring to a trademark gold chain.
His wife, Jacinta Hill, testified she would apply makeup to her husband’s gang tattoos before he went to work each day.
Magistrate Sarah Oliver found Brajkovich not guilty of both charges, saying the court couldn’t be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the person in the CCTV was him.
The magistrate also found the footage of Brajkovich in the shopping centre was not clear enough to determine if his gang tattoos were visible.
The court also ordered he be paid $4000 in costs.
Since the anti-insignia laws were introduced, Perth’s outlaw gangs have bandied together in a legal fight to quash the laws, which also ban certain bikies from associating with each other.
Charged Mongols member Troy Mercanti is leading the legal bid, taking the challenge to the High Court of Australia where he is being represented by one of the state’s top barristers, Steven Penglis, SC.
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