OFF THE WIRE
Rebel bikies on the Pacific Highway near Brisbane on their national ride in 2007. Picture: FAIRFAX the night as part of their National ride, 15th February 2007 pic Darren Pateman SPECIAL 00
STATEWIDE crackdown on outlaw bikies is unlikely to trigger major action across the south-west.
Victoria Police has pledged to be more proactive in battling criminal elements within motorcycle gangs and said it hoped to work with law-abiding members to stamp out illegal behaviour.
Its efforts to investigate and prevent outlaw bikie crime include the rebadged Echo Taskforce, which has executed more than 20 search warrants since its launch in February.
Across Victoria there are thought to be at least 24 bikie groups with 56 clubhouses, including two premises in the south-west.
The largest of these is a base run by the Rebels Motorcycle Club in Warrnambool's Silverton Park industrial estate.
http://www.standard.net.au/news/local/news/general/southwest-bikies-born-to-be-mild/2184231.aspx
Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Canavan, of the Warrnambool police criminal investigation unit, said the city was not considered a centre for bikie crime.
He said many of those who used the Rebels clubhouse were not official members of the club but rather locals socialising.
"There's a big difference between membership as a patched member of the Rebels or membership as a social member," Detective Senior Sergeant Canavan said.
"There may be some social members but there's certainly no significant membership of fully-patched Rebels members down here at the clubhouse." Members approached by The Standard shortly after the site opened in 2007 said they did not intend to cause trouble and simply enjoyed riding motorbikes.
Last October former Warrnambool Rebels Motorcycle Club president Terry Hannah walked free from court after pleading guilty to four charges.
Hannah, 43, now of Wonthaggi, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to stalking, recklessly causing injury, using threatening words in a public place and unlawful assault.
His total effective sentence of 116 days' imprisonment had already been served in pre-sentence custody, though he was also fined $800 and ordered to pay witness costs.
A piece of industrial land in Portland is used by a small chapter of the Bros bikie group, understood to share little more than a name with its Yarraville counterparts.
Portlan d police Sergeant Gary Cooper said local Bros members often hosted a Christmas function involving motorbike enthusiasts from across the state but generally kept to themselves.
"We have had no trouble from them in over 30 years," he said.
"The members here are all local blokes, they've been employed and they've got their own businesses and are still working ... you'd probably find their next-door neighbours don't even know who they are."
The state government is preparing legislation under which the Victorian Supreme Court could declare a gang illegal if its existence represented a serious threat to public safety and order.
An anti-fortification provision to stop outlaw bikie gangs adding protective barricades to their clubhouses is also proposed.
aweaver@sta ndar d.fairfax.com.au
