Bandidos boss says police are also a criminal gang

Kate McClymont Sydney Times
The national president of outlaw motorcycle gang the Bandidos has told a Sydney court that if he is banned from having a firearm because some of his members are criminals, so should the NSW police as some of their members have been convicted of crimes.

In 2018 Jason Addison, 54, was banned by the NSW Police from acquiring, possessing or using a firearm on the grounds that it was not in the public interest because of his presidency of the Bandido Mr Addison, a stonemason from Echuca in Victoria, appealed the prohibition order arguing that neither his membership of the bikie gang nor his criminal record – which he said did not relate to firearm offences – was reason to prevent him from having a firearm.

Last week Suzanne Leal, a member of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), upheld the prohibition order. “I am satisfied that as National President of the Bandidos outlaw motorcycle gang, Mr Addison is not fit, in the public interest, to have possession of a firearm,” Ms Leal said.

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She gave “no weight” to the bikie leader’s submission that the interpretation of the Firearm Act could mean that “the Commissioner would be required to issue a firearms prohibition order against himself and every member of the NSW Police force” as some members of the force had been “convicted of criminal offences.”os and his criminal record for drug offences.

A local marriage celebrant from Echuca provided a reference for Mr Addison suggesting the bikie boss was a man of “high values, ethics and loyalty” and was a “highly regarded craftsmen in the funeral industry.”

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However, Anthony Macken, a criminal analyst specialising in outlaw motor cycle gangs, told the tribunal that the Bandidos have a documented history of violence as well as possession and use of weapons. He said the gang had members who were involved in crimes including drug offences and violence and that violence was employed to enforce the hierarchical structure within the club.

Ms Leal said she was satisfied that due to Mr Addison’s position of president “he is capable of intimidating members of the community generally and other members of the Bandidos in particular.”

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In September 2018, the Queensland Court of Appeal upheld a jail sentence against Blair Thomsen, the head of the Caloundra Chapter of the Bandidos. When Stephen John Chambers left the gang in 2012 due to ill health he was ordered to attend the clubhouse. When he declined he was told that if he didn’t attend, the Bandidos would come to him. The judge noted that from experience Chambers knew that if his former colleagues came to his home “violence and damage” would ensue.

At the clubhouse meeting Thomsen said to him, “Sprogg, we’re taking your f…ing bike.” This was because of Chambers’ “disrespect”. Mr Chambers never saw his $18,000 Harley Davidson again. Instead, the registration showed a new owner – Jason Addison, the national president.

In 2015 Mr Addison was charged with extortion after a former Bandidos member was forced to sign over his Sunshine Coast marble business to Mr Addison, along with his bike and the family home. The man was threatened with personal harm if he did not comply. In 2017 a Queensland jury found Mr Addison not guilty of all charges.