Three Victorian men, including two Hells Angels bikies, freed on bail after arrested under new laws

Supreme Court Judge James Douglas found there were questions about the strength of the case against Darren Keith Haley, Daniel Morgan Lovett and Kresimir Basic, who were charged under anti-association laws.

The men, who police encountered in Surfers Paradise on an outing to buy ice cream, spent almost three weeks in lockdown in conditions their lawyer outside court compared unfavourably to "the new dog kennels at the RSPCA".

Judges told: Not your place to meddle

They are charged with knowingly being in a public place in a group of three more participants of a criminal organisation after Queensland police received intelligence from Victoria linking the group to the Hells Angels and Comancheros bikie gangs.

Two others in the group, Bane Alajbegovic and Dario Halilovic, were freed last week after the Crown conceded they could not prove their ongoing involvement in the Comancheros and its case against them was weak.

The court heard Haley and Lovett were both self-confessed members of the Hells Angels but Basic denied membership of any gang.

Basic is also charged with being in a Hilton hotel room with Alajbegovic and Halilovic but Judge Douglas noted it was arguable whether a hotel room was a public place.

He said the men, who have been in solitary confinement since January 9, would "suffer financially by continued detention" ahead of a likely trial in May.

Solicitor Chris Hannay told The Courier-Mail outside court the men had been kept in filthy 4m X 5m concrete cells for 23 hours a day.

"I'd compare it to dog kennels - the new RSPCA is much better," he said.

 

Defence barrister Stephen Courtney said Haley, 33, had no criminal history and lived with his parents, partner and two young children while running a business with five employees.

Lovett, 30, who had gained permission from Victorian authorities to travel to Queensland on holiday, was married with one child and expecting another.

He was on bail for burglary and drug production charges in Victoria for which his parents had put up a $200,000 surety.

Basic, 31, is a self-employed panel beater with a criminal record but not jail time.

He is on bail for drug trafficking charges in Victoria but last August was granted permission to travel to Croatia.

Prosecutor Vicki Loury said there was no suggestion the men were a flight risk or had appeared in public "in furtherance" of the activities of the criminal organisation of which they are allegedly participants.

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