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~Road Scholars~
Jury not intimidated: bikies
Fri Aug 27, 2004 11:32am
209.86.143.142
Jury not intimidated: bikies
LUKE ELIOT and LUKE MORFESSE
The son of murdered former CIB boss Don Hancock yesterday claimed
jurors were intimidated by bikies after a District Court jury
acquitted five men linked to the Gypsy Jokers of a firebombing
campaign at the Goldfields settlement of Ora Banda.
Stephen Hancock helped his family flee the remote settlement
after explosions destroyed property belonging to his father in
October and November 2000.
The jury deliberated for just over three hours before rejecting
allegations that Gypsy Jokers bikies carried out the bombing
campaign as revenge for the sniper-style murder of comrade Billy
Grierson. They found Graeme Slater, Robert Darren Stupar, Richard
Lee Samuels, Leslie Thomas Hoddy and associate Gary Ernest White
not guilty of planning and planting bombs which ripped through Mr
Hancock's home, the Ora Banda Historic Inn and gold battery.
Outside court Mr Hancock said he believed there was an
intimidation factor.
"They have shown what they are capable of and I don't think
anyone's willing to go against them," Mr Hancock said.
"Until they can offer the jury some sort of protection in
the way of anonymous juries or something like that they are going
to be intimidated by these people."
Gypsy Jokers spokesman Dean Adams rejected Mr Hancock's claims,
saying the outcome was the result of exceptional work by the
defence and the verdict restored the club's faith in the jury
system.
"The jury system was entrusted by the State Government, it's
not our system at all," Mr Adams said. "You can't get
much fairer than being judged by 12 of your peers."
Former Operation Zircon boss Assistant Commissioner David Caporn
said there was no evidence to suggest the jury had been
intimidated by the prospect of convicting bikies.
"We simply didn't win it because the jury, hearing all the
evidence, couldn't satisfy themselves," he said.
"But can I discount that that's not happened in the past,
nor can I discount it from this case. No I can't because I'm not
in the mind of those jurors. There's always a perception of
(intimidation) but I'm not saying that in this case."
At the start of the trial, Slater pleaded guilty to the attempted
arson of Mr Hancock's Ora Banda home.
Judge Allan Fenbury yesterday sentenced Slater to three years
jail with parole eligibility after 18 months for the failed
Molotov cocktail attack. The sentence was back-dated to January
2003.
Slater, 38, was in custody at Hakea Prison remand centre last
night despite having already served two months more than the
minimum sentence while awaiting trial on the car bomb murder
charges. The father-of-three will appear before the Parole Board
on Tuesday before his release.
Slater's solicitor, Laurie Levy, said Slater was considering
suing WA authorities for malicious prosecution and unlawful
detention. But he did not know of a case where the state had been
successfully sued for malicious prosecution, he said.
Mr Stupar and Mr Samuels walked free after the verdicts. Hoddy,
Slater and White remained in custody.
White is serving a strict security life sentence with a 22-year
minimum for the gangland-style shooting murder of drug user
Anthony Tapley, who police had previously regarded as a missing
person, in August 2001.
