Consorting laws designed to bust up criminal networks and bikie gaxxx contradict the Australian ideal of mateship, solicitors for Nomads bikie club will argue in a NSW Supreme Court challenge.
And despite a reputation for toughness, four senior Nomads charged with consorting will argue they were not meeting for alleged criminal activity; rather, they were visiting a friend and relative's sick mother at a Merrylands home.
On Tuesday, solicitors for the Nomads bikie gaxxx lodged a court bid to repel the charges against Nomad members who have been friends for more than 20 years and are now not allowed to associate due to allegations of criminality.
In June, Jamie Zammit (who Fairfax Media believes is the Sydney president of the Nomads), his deputy Sleiman Tajjour, and Justin Hawthorne and David Brannan pleaded not guilty to a string of charges including consorting.
Mr Brannan's solicitor Benjamin Archbold confirmed an appeal has been lodged in the NSW Supreme Court.
"Mateship is an Australian value and these laws go to destroying that. The legislation needs to be tested and my client is intending to do just that," he said.
The consorting legislation, which came into effect in May to tackle organised crime and outlaw motorcycle gaxxx, means anyone who ignores a police warning for communicating with convicted criminals can face up to three years in jail.
The Nomads' court challenge will be heard for a mention in the Supreme Court on November 28.
Earlier this month, John Thomas Charles O'Brien, of Curl Curl, received a 12-month good behaviour bond for habitually consorting with a convicted offender after Manly police gave him an official warning.
Manly crime manager Inspector Luke Arthurs said their use of consorting laws had already led to a reduction in crime.
"The law doesn't specifically mention bikies," he said. "Local police have used this legislation as another tool in their arsenal. We know who has been causing the problems and actively targeted them."
In July, intellectually disabled man Charlie Maxwell Foster, from Inverell in the state's central-west, was jailed for nine months for several offences, including habitually consorting with convicted offenders after a warning.
The following month, the conviction was set aside for a retrial due to errors in the police case against Mr Foster.
Mr Foster's barrister Wayne Baffsky, who successfully challenged NSW laws designed to dismantle the Hells Angels bikie club, expects to lodge an appeal this week and potentially join the Nomad's bid to challenge the very existence of the consorting law.
"The problems with these laws is it gives police incredible power to police. Charlie Foster was not an organised crime figure or in an outlaw motorcycle club," he said.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/bikies-evoke-aussie-mateship-in-court-challenge-20121121-29p95.html#ixzz2CrcZHmCu
