OFF THE WIRE
NSW police are poised to jail scores of bikies after issuing more than 130 warnings under revamped consorting laws aimed at breaking up outlaw motorcycle clubs suspected of involvement in organised crime. Under the laws championed by Premier Barry O'Farrell as a solution to bikie violence, people who habitually consort with criminals will face up to three years' jail.NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione has described the new law as crucial in the fight against bikie-related crime despite the fact that the first man jailed for consorting was a 21-year-old Inverell man with no connection to outlaw motorcycle clubs. Last week, a nine-month jail sentence handed to Charlie Foster was overturned on appeal but NSW police are determined to continue booking offenders on consorting, insiders say.
Two senior members of the Nomads motorcycle club, which has been in conflict with Hells Angels club, face the NSW Local Court this week in what is shaping as a test of the consorting laws.
Hells Angels barrister Wayne Baffsky said the cases would be difficult to defend because under "a reverse onus of proof" offenders must prove they are consorting for a lawful purpose.
It is understood that defence lawyers may argue the reverse onus element of the law clashes with the presumption of innocence under the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Australia is a signatory. Other state police forces are closely watching the progress of NSW consorting laws after the failure of anti-association laws at the High Court that would have effectively outlawed membership of clubs declared as criminal organisations.
Former Victorian consorting squad detective Brian Murphy said consorting laws would be effective in putting pressure on associates to co-operate with police.
Murphy said he would often book "cleanskins" who associated with criminals because they would "open up like ripe watermelons falling off a truck" when faced with jail for consorting.
"It was a great way to get villains off the street, if we chose, or just to learn who was running with who in the criminal world.'
Meanwhile, Victoria's Taskforce Echo is enforcing breaches of liquor licensing laws and unpaid sheriff warrants to keep bikies in check.
In the past two weeks, police raided Comanchero and Hells Angels clubhouses in Melbourne, seizing alcohol and cash. Sheriff warrants were also executed at both clubhouses, resulting in one office bearer from the Hells Angels being remanded in custody.
Police have traditionally ignored illegal sales of alcohol in outlaw clubhouses but Taskforce Echo has taken a new tough approach in enforcing lesser laws.
Taskforce Echo chief Detective Superintendent Doug Fryer said that while he would welcome new laws, there were many existing laws that could be used effectively to deal with lawlessness among bikies.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/bikies-to-face-jail-in-new-laws/story-e6frg6nf-1226453649043
