A magistrate has
condemned the “standover tactics” of the Wagga Finks
Outlaw Motorcycle Gang after three members viciously
assaulted a man and stole his dog.
The victim was involved
in a number of disagreements with club members but
things spiraled out of control when he failed to attend
another member’s funeral.
In telephone
conversations intercepted by investigating police, the
club’s president was caught ordering a member to assault
the victim, stating “I think you should clip him.”
Four Finks members,
Connor Whitnall, Robert Harley Geppert, Brock Altmann
and Peter Yealland, have now been sentenced for their
part in the incident.
According to documents
tendered to the court, the victim was at his Wagga home
with his partner and her child when his three fellow
members knocked at the door.
The victim was informed
he had been kicked out of the group after failing to
attend the funeral, owing a debt of $15,000 to the
club.
The victim was told “we
know how much he means to you and that’s why we are
taking him”, as they stole his dog for collateral before
he was punched in the face.
Magistrate Erin Kennedy
told two of the members as they were sentenced in Wagga
Local Court on Monday, that taking the man’s punishment
into their own hands created “chaos” which needed to be
punished.
“You are creating chaos
over a society that has worked for years to keep people
safe – these standover tactics are not to be tolerated,”
she said.
The court ordered a
number of the men involved in the September 8, 2016
incident to no longer associate with each other for a
year.
Mount Austin’s Yealland,
46, who the facts state was the president of the group,
was sentenced to a four-month intensive corrections
order after ordering the three Kooringal men to the
victim’s house.
Geppert, 24, was
sentenced to a seven-month intensive corrections order
after pleading guilty to demanding with menaces and
participating in a criminal group.
Altmann, 27, received an
11-month intensive corrections order after pleading
guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm,
demanding with menaces and participating in a criminal
group.
Whitnall, 24, was ordered
to complete a 10-month intensive corrections order after
pleading guilty to demanding menaces, assault
occasioning actual bodily harm, participating in a
criminal group and stealing a dog