FEUD FEARS: Rebels bikie arrest outside court where a rival gang member was due to appear. Picture: Stewart Allen Source: PerthNow
POLICE maintained a heavy presence at the Perth District Court today, amid fears an ongoing bikie feud would erupt between Rebels and Rock Machine bikie gangs.
The contingent of officers from the Gang
Crime Squad and the Perth police station rallied at the Central Law
Courts in Hay St at 12.30pm after concerns were raised that Rebels
bikies were in close proximity to the rival gang, the Rock Machine.
Police said a member of the Rock Machine had been appearing in court
today and there was concern the ongoing dispute would resurface.
One man, a Rebels member, was arrested for disorderly conduct outside
the court, while a woman who was with the group at the time was taken
into custody for failing to provide personal details to police.
They were taken to Curtin House, the detectives headquarters in Beaufort
St, where other members of the gang waited outside while they were
questioned by police.
Both the man and woman will be summonsed to appear in court at a later
date.
The Canadian-based gang, the Rock Machine emerged in WA about two years
ago. The club has about 20 known members and a clubhouse in Kardinya.
Police say the club is at loggerheads with the Rebels, which has about
50 members and four clubhouses in WA, and officers have been monitoring
their movements.
In November last year, police said they were investigating whether a
tit-for-tat feud between the two clubs was to blame for the firebombing
of a Bibra Lake tattoo parlour, owned by a Rebels bikie.
The Rock Machine, which has links to the Bandidos, is notorious for a
violent turf war with the Hells Angels in Canada between 1994 and 2001.
The club, which has links to the Bandidos, is notorious for a violent
turf war with the Hells Angels in Canada between 1994 and 2001.
That violence left 162 people dead, including an 11-year-old boy who was
killed when a car bomb exploded in the street where he was playing.
