A Wodonga member of the Black Uhlans
motorcycle club had knuckledusters converted into foot pegs for his bike, a
court has heard.
That resulted in Tristan William Hamilton being charged with two counts of possession or use of a weapon without a permit.
Magistrate Tony Murray said such a charge could carry a hefty jail term of up to 14 years.
But he said it was readily accepted that knuckledusters were well down the scale in degree of seriousness.
Hamilton, 32, pleaded guilty when he
appeared at Albury Local Court this week, where he was convicted and instead
placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond and fined $600
He was one of four men arrested during a raid on the Black Uhlans’ South Albury clubhouse on May 6.
It resulted in the Townsend Street clubhouse being shut down indefinitely as alcohol was allegedly being sold from the unlicensed premises.
Four of 20 members present were given
field court attendance notices for drug and liquor offences, while a large
amount of alcohol and cash was also seized.
But Hamilton’s matter involved only the knuckledusters.
Defence solicitor Mark Cronin said there was certainly “no indication” that Hamilton ever intended using the weapons for any other purpose than as foot pegs.
“He bought them on eBay from the US – he did it about two years ago,” he said.
Police raided the clubhouse about 6.30pm.
Mr Murray heard that Hamilton was found to not have any drugs.
But as he was being allowed to leave, Hamilton told police his motorcycle was still at the clubhouse.
As police looked over the bike they saw the back foot pegs were knuckledusters that could be easily removed with a tool.
So youd pull out a shifter in the
middle of some confrontation , and take off the knuckledusters to use them?
(instead of the shifter???) When the law is even more of an ass...
Hamilton said the standard pegs on his bike were too small for his partner.
A second man charged following the raid,
Corowa man Nathan John Symonds, 31, pleaded guilty to a single count of
possessing a prohibited drug.
He was placed on a 12-month bond and fined $400 over the amphetamine, which Mr Cronin said weighed 2.5 grams when taken out of its plastic bag.