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Ex-bikie case dismissed, not enough evidence

FORMER bikie Adam McCrea has had two charges against him dismissed in Maryborough Magistrates Court after police could not provide enough evidence.

Mr McCrea was charged with assault and breaking and entering after an incident at a service station in Hervey Bay last year, but pleaded not guilty to the offences.

Magistrate John Smith dismissed each charge, ruling that the prosecution had failed to prove the particulars of either charge.

The decision marked an end to what had been a drawn out legal process.

The charges were originally set down to be heard in Hervey Bay Magistrates Court in October.

But Magistrate Graeme Tatnell disqualified himself from the case involving the former Rebels bikie due to "assumptions made by police" about associations between the pair.

It is understood the accusations arose after Mr Tatnell's name was mentioned incidentally during a Crime and Corruption Commission operation.

The CCC has said there were no allegations made about Mr Tatnell.

Mr McCrea, 50, appeared before the Hervey Bay Magistrates Court briefly in October, but before the matter could be heard Mr Tatnell stood down, saying assumptions were made by police about an association between the pair.

"The only time I have seen or spoken with him is in court and once at a doctor's office," Mr Tatnell said at the time.

The magistrate was clear he was stepping down from the case to avoid any innuendo in the community and to protect himself from criticism.

The case was transferred to Maryborough and heard by Magistrate John Smith on Friday, where the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.

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