Alisha Rouse For Daily Mail Australia

A bikie kingpin wanted to turn his notorious gang into a force for good before he was found dead in prison.

Heavily tattooed Brent ‘BJ’ Reker, 35, the national president of the infamous Finks bikie gang, is believed to have taken his own life in his cell at the Ravenhall Correctional Centre on Thursday afternoon.

Police are not treating his death as suspicious.

In early 2018, Reker invited Daily Mail Australia into his gang’s new clubhouse in Victoria, having ‘thrown out past members’.

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He insisted the gang planned to start afresh, saying Victoria was the only state where bikies are ‘afforded their human rights’.

The passionate bikie had insisted that the gang would adopt a no-nonsense approach to rogue members, and that ‘people who f*** up will be kicked out’.

‘It took 18 months to get it right – and it was the hardest thing I have ever done – cleaning out the club here,’ BJ explained.

He had insisted ‘higher standards’ will would keep out criminals ‘attracted to the club for the wrong reason’.

The reformed gangster said he just wanted to ‘hang out with mates’ and ‘go for a drink on a Friday night’ without being harassed by police.

But just months later, the bikie kingpin was in trouble with the law again.

He was remanded in custody in September to face charges over an alleged revenge attack.

The bikie was allegedly hired by Melbourne woman Tara Egglestone to attack a man who allegedly posted naked photos of her online.

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Reker and other bikies allegedly burst into the man’s home and viciously attacked him with a baseball bat and tyre lever in September.

The group also allegedly threatened to kill the man’s partner and children if he called police.

The group was charged with offences including conspiring to commit aggravated home invasion, trespass with intent to assault, threat to kill, and assault.

Egglestone was also charged and is in custody awaiting trial.

Reker was due appear at the County Court on June 29, 2020 for a final directions hearing for his case before he was found dead in his cell.

Under pressure from mounting legal fees and police attention ‘brought on by rogue members’, the infamous Finks club all but disappeared from Victoria three years ago.

Last March they announced plans to return, opening four new clubhouses in Frankston, City, Sunsbury North and Cheltenham.

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In New South Wales and Queensland, tough anti-bikie laws mean they can’t ride together, or even communicate with each other ‘without risking jail time’.

Bikie clubs are the last stand for human rights – in Australia no one is allowed to do anything anymore. We – just like everyone else – just want to hang out with our mates and go for a drink on Friday night without being told we can’t,’ BJ told Daily Mail Australia in March 2018.

‘Victoria is the last state where there are still basic human rights – police can’t just bash down a door and come into our homes – they can’t tell us we can’t talk to our mates.’

Victoria’s Department of Justice confirmed on Friday that authorities are not treating Reker’s death as suspicious, but a formal investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of death.

Reker’s home was also the target of a drive-by shooting at the end of May last year while his wife and 11-day-old baby slept inside. His car was also firebombed.

His club all-but collapsed in 2015 after police raided 20 Finks properties and arrested 17 members, charging them with everything from drugs and weapons offences to extortion attempts and planning a kidnapping.

The club, and particularly the troubled Ringwood chapter, were struggling financially under the weight of mounting legal fees and had a ‘bad boy’ reputation across Melbourne.