Thebarton gym formerly home to Finks and Mongols bikies targeted by fire
A BIKIE whose Thebarton gym has
been burnt in the second arson attack on his properties in four
days has won the right to appeal his deportation.
In the Federal Court on Wednesday, Andrew Peter Stevens, the treasurer of the Mongols outlaw gang, was granted an expedited court hearing over his deportation.
Just hours earlier, police and firefighters were called to the Adelaide Gym, on Dalgleish St, just after 3.30am on Wednesday.
“Upon arrival patrols discovered a small fire at the front of premises which burnt itself out,” a police spokesman said.
Police said the front door of the gym, which previously housed the Finks and then Mongols clubroom, suffered minor damage.
They are investigating the suspicious fire.
Counsel for Stevens, who is fighting a heart condition, succeeded in in their bid to have his appeal heard next month.
Hyperperformance Cycles at Ridgehaven, a business also allegedly owned by Stevens, was lost to fire on Saturday. The fire destroyed motorcycles, tools and fuel and left a $200,000 damage bill.
Stevens is currently being held in immigration detention on Christmas Island, following the cancellation of his visa in June.
Both he and key Comanchero Paul Burgess were taken into custody when Immigration Minister Peter Dutton ordered their deportation on character grounds.
Hundreds of bikies, sex offenders and drug traffickers have had their visas cancelled, including more than 80 in the past two years.
Adelaide underworld figure Leonard Gjeka was deported to his native Albania in late 2014.
Richmond AFL footballer Dustin Martin’s father had links to bikie gangs and was deported to New Zealand earlier this year.
On Wednesday, Dr Rachael Gray, for Stevens, said her client’s opposition to deportation was based on both constitutional and administrative issues.
She said the administrative issues could and should be argued separately, at an expedited hearing, because they could resolve the case without the need for constitutional argument.
“We say there is a knockout point, raised by a prior case,” she said.
“In that (earlier) case, the Minister failed to consider the risk of harm posed by that person and the court ruled that was an error.
“We say it’s the same point here, and there’s no lack of clarity in that.”
She urged the court to hear the application in September, pointing to Stevens’ ongoing health issues.
“My client has a heart condition and Christmas Island is a considerable distance from the nearest treatment centre,” she said.
Justice Natalie Charlesworth granted the application, ordering the administrative issues be argued next month.
In March, The Advertiser revealed Adelaide Gym had been established in December last year on property owned by Stevens.
In June, the Adelaide Gym was also targeted in a break-in where a single bottle of Gatorade was stolen.