Nomads bikie gang leader Honar Pishdari smirks as he’s jailed for 20 years over ‘paramilitary’ crime wave

A FORMER bikie president has been jailed for 20 years for ordering a series of violent crimes around Adelaide in an operation condemned by a judge as tantamount to a lawless paramilitary gang.

Kurdistan immigrant Honar Pishdari, 26, was the South Australian head of the Nomads outlaw motorcycle gang throughout 2014 and up to his arrest in May 2015.

Pishdari, who is now linked to the Comancheros bikie gang within prison, used his role to order a series of violent crimes on former colleagues and associates.

The first crime occurred when gang members — including two of the most senior members — attempted to kidnap a former colleague during daylight at an Elizabeth car park in February 2015.

In the weeks leading up to the incident, phone taps and police bugs caught Pishdari planning the attack on the man who had sought protection in jail — “reprehensible” gang conduct and a sign of weakness.

As the terrified victim tried to escape his former colleagues, he ran into a nearby office and screamed at witnesses “they are after me, they are going to kill me”.

In the second incident, patched members broke into an expelled former vice-president’s house and ransacked it as they tried to take gang-branded clothing he refused to return and retrieve a $60,000 debt.

 
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SA Police say arrests have smashed the Nomads bikie gang

During the home invasion, they discovered a partially completed SA Police application form, leaving them enraged. They had to get another car to steal all of the contents including electronic items, clothing and alcohol.

A few days later, gang members — most of whom have significant criminal histories — kidnapped a former colleague and drove him around Adelaide after blackmailing him for $5000.

He eventually escaped after messaging friends urging them to contact police. All victims and witnesses in the case cannot be named for legal reasons.

Pishdari, who came to Australia aged six, smirked from the dock as he was jailed for 20 years on Monday after being convicted by three separate Supreme Court juries.

An alleged Nomad bikie gang member is arrested during the operation. Picture: NSW Police

The Nomads bikie gang patch.

He must serve at least 16 years behind bars on charges of participating in a criminal organisation, aggravated blackmail and kidnapping.

In sentencing, Justice David Peek condemned the bikies’ disregard for the law, condemning their “outrageous” actions as “tantamount to operating a paramilitary organisation”.

“This simply cannot be tolerated,” he said, adding that such “openly contemptuous” actions against the law must be severely dealt with by the courts.

Also sentenced on Monday was Nomads “sergeant at arms” Nathan Mackay, 39, who imposed order inside the gang. He was convicted of the same offences after the trials.

He was jailed for five years, nine months and 20 days with a non-parole period of four years and five months for his role in the kidnapping and blackmail attempt. He now must also serve a two-year drugs trafficking suspended sentence.

One of the Nomads is arrested by police

Other gang members, all from the northern suburbs, were jailed for between seven and a half years and almost three years for similar offences, including Luke Johnston, 28, Darren Mitchell, 43, Paul Reynolds, 52 and Shannon Roberts, 41. Another associate, Jason Fraser, 33, of Andrews Farm, was given a two-year jail term on home detention.

Jason Fraser who was a bikie 'associate' of the Nomads outlaw motorcycle gang leaves the District Court with a supporter after receiving a suspended sentence for his part in a home invasion.

It was a landmark prosecution in which several cases were “fast-tracked” through the court system.

The trials heard detailed evidence about the internal workings of the gangs, their hierarchical systems and codes of silence that are violently enforced.

Police said they had smashed the gang’s operations in 2015 after a series of raids across Adelaide and New South Wales following a year-long investigation.