~Wolf From Atlanta~
[OZ] Alleged bikie bombs 'pure revenge'
Wed Jun 30, 2004 5:14pm
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Alleged bikie bombs 'pure revenge'
By Tim Clarke
June 30, 2004
A SERIES of bombings that turned a West Australian hamlet into a ghost town were revenge attacks by a bikie gang who believed a retired detective had shot one of their own, a court was told today.

The five members of the Gypsy Jokers bikie gang allegedly planted bombs at the home and businesses owned by former Perth head of detectives, Don Hancock, because they thought he had shot dead their friend Billy Grierson in October 2000.

A jury at Perth District Court was today told that Graeme Slater, a senior member of the gang's Kalgoorlie chapter, masterminded the first attack that seriously damaged the historic inn at Ora Banda, in WA's Goldfields, two weeks after the shooting.

Two weeks later, Slater and fellow bikie Sidney "Snot" Reid, tried and failed to firebomb the Hancock residence in the town.

Then on November 5, 2000 Leslie Hoddy, Richard Samuels, Robert Stupar and Gary White, along with Reid, allegedly planted three bombs outside the historic inn, the Hancock's house and the nearby gold battery, devastating them all.


Prosecutor Ken Bates said the attacks were "pure revenge" by the gang for Mr Grierson's death.

"Ora Banda was rocked by a series of explosions that shut down the isolated community, and turned Ora Banda into a ghost town," Mr Bates said.

"What could have motivated such an attack? The answer lies in the belief in Slater and Reid that it was Donald Hancock who killed fellow gang member and good friend Billy Grierson."

Mr Bates described how Slater and Reid were present when Mr Grierson was shot sniper-style as he sat at a campfire in Ora Banda on the night of October 1, 2000.

Earlier that day a group of bikies, including Mr Grierson, had been ejected from Mr Hancock's pub after a row erupted because of bad language used in front of his daughter Alison, who was working behind the bar.

The jury was told the key witness in the trial would be Reid, who rolled over to become a Crown witness in return for a dramatically reduced sentence for his role in the subsequent murder of Mr Hancock.

The retired detective, along with his friend Lou Lewis, were killed by a remotely detonated car bomb in Perth on September 1, 2001.

Reid admitted his part in the assassination, while Slater was acquitted at a trial last year.

On Monday, Slater pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted arson in relation to the failed firebombing of Mr Hancock's home. He denies four charges of wilfully causing an explosion likely to cause serious injury to property.

Hoddy, Samuels, White and Stupar all deny three charges of wilfully causing an explosion.

The trial before Judge Allan Fenbury is expected to take six weeks.