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Shit flies as God's Garbage
members beat charges
Charges against an Albany member of God's Garbage motorcycle club
were thrown out of court this week after police failed to
establish he had committed an offence when asked to leave a
public bar for wearing club colours.
Magistrate Paul Heaney dismissed the charges after a heated debate in which a defence witness painted Albany Supt John Watson as being drunk at the time of the incident and the police prosecution alleged the defence witness had been paid off by the bike club.( what? the prosecution forgot to threaten him before he got to court?)
Police charged Garry Ian Bearfoot, 41, with giving false personal details and resisting arrest after an off-duty Supt Watson asked him and a fellow God's Garbage member to leave the Esplanade Hotel on January 9 for wearing their colours at the bar.
Mr Bearfoot was arrested after giving his address as the club's headquarters in Christine Street, Albany. He struggled when police tried to search his pockets, resulting in a further charge of resisting arrest.
The two men were not brought to book over contravening an Albany hotels accord banning bike club members from wearing club colours because they left the bar when asked to by Supt Watson.
But defence counsel Graeme Payne used the lack of a charge over wearing the colours and the non-attendance of Supt Watson at the hearing in Albany Magistrate's Court to attack the prosecution's case.
Mr Payne told the court that without reasonable grounds for suspecting Mr Bearfoot had committed an offence in the bar, police had no reason to ask him for his address or to search him.
Mr Heaney agreed, adding that Supt Watson should have given evidence at the hearing.
"I can't see any evidence of an arrestable offence being committed," he said. "They weren't arrested for (wearing their colours) - if that was an offence, why weren't they charged with that?"
Defence witness Tim Sommerville, former bar manager at the Esplanade Hotel, said Supt Watson was red-faced, slurring his speech and had to lean against the two bikers to avoid falling over when he called for police help to remove them from the bar.
Police prosecutor John McBeath then insinuated Mr Sommerville was being paid by the God's Garbage club to give evidence at the hearing, a charge Mr Sommerville and Mr Payne denied.
Sgt McBeath said he had not called on Supt Watson because the charges did not relate to wearing club colours. Supt Watson had been at a lunch with 15 people, several of whom had since said he was not drunk.( and they were all capable of judging....hes probably always like that...)
Sgt McBeath said he had made
preparations to appeal against the decision. FFS...nothing more important going
on there????
