BIKER NEWS -- A MONGOL bikie who had a facial tattoo “blacked-out” when he tried to leave the club has been sentenced for sleeping w...
BIKER NEWS -- A MONGOL bikie who had a facial tattoo “blacked-out” when he tried to leave the club has been sentenced for sleeping with a gun while fearing reprisals from his former clubmates.
Jake Billy Bradshaw, 26, had pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a firearm without a licence and one count of possessing a firearm without identifying characters at Seaford Meadows in October 2014.
In sentencing, District Court Judge Steven Millsteed said Bradshaw had bought the gun for protection while there was a “turf war” between the Mongols and other bikie gangs.
He said Bradshaw was considering leaving the Mongols at the time and Crime Gangs Task Force detectives had been at his home to discuss him cutting ties with the club.
“Following this you heard rumours you may be in trouble due to your intention to leave the Mongols, so you retrieved the firearm and loaded it and kept it close at hand,” he said.
Judge Millsteed said that when police subsequently searched his home they found him in bed with the loaded firearm next to him.
Bradshaw had “blacked-out” his facial Mongols tattoo.
Defence lawyers had previously told the court Bradshaw was a member of the Finks which transformed into the Mongols.
They said he was a fully-patched member of the bikie club for more than three years before deciding to get out.
“Towards the end of the 2014 you decided to leave the club as you had had enough of the lifestyle and did not wish to go along with what was expected of you.
“You advised the president of the Mongols that you were leaving. You received a fairly neutral reaction but subsequently heard ‘along the grapevine’ that you needed to watch your back.”
Bradshaw had also admitted breaching a good behaviour bond by committing his firearms offences.
Judge Millsteed sentenced him to three years, one month and three weeks jail with a non-parole period of 18 months.
Both the head sentence and non-parole period were backdated to October last year when Bradshaw was taken into custody.
This article was first published on November 13, 2015 11:19am
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