https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/i-m-over-it-court-hears-from-finks-state-president-in-police-attempt-to-stop-turf-war-20180411-p4z92k.html
In a recent phone call at Goulburn Correctional Centre, Andrew Robert Manners had a blunt assessment for police: “Mate, I’m over it.”
Manners, the state president of the Finks motorcycle club, was referring to a turf war between the Newcastle chapters of his club and the Nomads, which escalated in March when his home was sprayed with dozens of bullets while his partner and her daughter were inside.
The tit-for-tat dispute has increasingly worried police, who have labelled it an “emergency” and the most significant bikie feud in the state. The Police Commissioner is applying in the Supreme Court for a Serious Crime Prevention Order to be placed on five members from each of the clubs.
The applications – the first of their kind brought in NSW – are part of a police crackdown, with officers carrying out extensive raids in the Hunter last week as part of a “relentless” pursuit of the clubs to stop further “imminent” violence.
If Justice David Davies imposes the orders, the ten men would be subject to strict conditions including not being allowed to associate, being banned from pubs and clubs, banned from travelling in any vehicle from 9pm to 6am, and restricted from using encrypted communications like Wickr, Snapchat or WhatsApp.
They will also be restricted from owning more than one mobile phone, must produce their phone and passwords to police upon request, and will not be allowed to wear or display any insignia or patches from their club.
Both clubs have opposed the orders in court.
In a hearing on Wednesday, police barrister Mark Tedeschi QC said the orders sought against Manners and other Finks members Mitchell Alexander Cole, Benjamin James Main, Mathew Francis Maybury and Troy Vanderlight were “necessary” for the protection of the public.
He said police raids last week unearthed crossbows and arrows, a balaclava, a lock-picking gun, a taser, knuckle dusters, a gun barrel, an extendable baton, and four explosive detonators.
“[The detonators] are explosives in themselves, but can also be used to set off larger explosive devices,” Mr Tedeschi said.
“On the afternoon of that same day, the fifth of April this year, police located a failed incendiary device in a laneway behind the premises of the Nomads vice president in that area. [The] device contained flammable liquid, which showed every sign an attempt had been made to detonate it.”
Defence barrister Peter Lange said “nothing of interest” had been seized from his clients , except “Finks-related merchandise” and a “gang clothing ledger”.
The explosive detonators were found at a premises linked to the Nomads, he said, denying his clients had been involved in “acts of so-called retribution”.
“There is simply no evidence to support the contention any of these defendants is directing acts of violence,” Mr Lange said.
The court previously heard police had spoken to senior bikies in an attempt to defuse the situation, in which several homes have been targeted with weapons including molotov cocktails, pistols, a shotgun and a rifle.
In a jail phone call played to the court, Manners told two detectives he was the only one who could sit down with the Nomads, and “trying to bust my boys’ balls to talk” was “not going to work”.
“I’m the voice for the Finks, so there’s no point trying to trash us and do shit to us,” Manners said.
“If you can help me out and line it up, I’ll sit down straight away.
“I’m about over it just as much as you are. Mate, I’m over it. We’re fighting over turf, I don’t think we’ve even got someone there any more.
“We can have one of them [Nomads] and just me so we’ve got no dickheads talking bullshit. You get me out, you get the big boss of them, I’ll sit down and talk to them.”
Manners, wearing a green prison t-shirt, listened silently via audio-video link from Goulburn for the entirety of the hearing.
He is due to apply for bail on Thursday.
Justice Davies reserved his judgment.
RELATED STORY: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nomads-bikies-deny-open-warfare-with-finks-in-newcastle-20180329-p4z6wy.html
