OFF THE WIRE
Mark Oberhardt
couriermail.com.au
A MAN who was caught in a major undercover operation into links between the Finks motorcycle club and drugs on the Gold Coast was jailed for trafficking today.
The Supreme Court in Brisbane heard Philip Bruce Main refused to answer questions about his association with aspects of the drug trade and also who had shot him when brought before an Australian Crime Commission inquiry.
Main, 38, pleaded guilty to trafficking methylamphetamine between November 2008 and October 2009.
He also pleaded guilty to supplying by offer a pistol, refusing to take an oath before the ACC and four counts of refusing to answer questions before an ACC inquiry.
Prosecutor Petrina Colhessey said Main had a history of violent offences including when he was a security officer for a nightclub and threw a patron off a four metre high balcony.
Ms Clohessey said Main had also assaulted police who went to the Gold Coast hospital to interview him after he went to hospital with a gunshot wound.
She said Main had a further conviction for assaulting a man who owed a large drug debt to the Finks motorcylce club.
Ms Clohessey detailed how Main had been caught in an undercover operation by Queensland Police and the ACC who were looking at links between motorcycle gangs, in particular the Finks, and drug distribution.
She said Main twice sold methylamphetamines to an undercover officer and a check of Main's finances showed he had unaccounted income of $17,000 in one year.
Barrister Leon Ackermann, for Main, said his client's role had been as "security" and as a driver-lookout.
He said at the time Main had been addicted to methylamphetamine.
Justice Debbie Mullins, after taking into account 14 months Main had spent in custody on remand, sentenced Main to five years nine months jail with a recommendation for parole on June 10 next year.
