Bikies infiltrator 'outed by Australian authorities' given Canadian refugee status

A man who infiltrated the Bandidos bikie gang has become the first known refugee from Australia after an overseas tribunal found he was abandoned by local authorities who blew his cover.

The ABC can reveal that former outlaw motorcycle gang insider Stevan Utah won the landmark asylum claim in Canada.

Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) accepted evidence that there were murder contracts placed on Mr Utah's life after he was recruited by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) for a national operation against bikie gangs.

In a ruling that condemned the actions of Australian authorities, the IRB found the country failed to offer Mr Utah adequate protection amid a "broader pattern due to corruption, ineptitude and structural difficulties".

It found Australia's top crime agency "outed the claimant as an informant" with a 2006 media release "divulging that they had a source" in the Bandidos.

Months later Mr Utah fled Australia after what the IRB accepted was a brutal attempt on his life by some Bandidos members on the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

He has since spent more than a decade in hiding and legal limbo.

The former soldier, who gave authorities information on serious crimes including murder, was a "significant target for the [Bandidos] leadership given his depth of knowledge and history with them and his subsequent betrayal", the IRB said.

It referred to active contracts for Mr Utah's killing and expert testimony that Bandidos "would have had his murder arranged" had they known he was in Canada.

His role with the ACC included leading investigators to the body of Victorian man Earl Mooring four years after his murder, which Mr Utah said he witnessed.

'I am now not Australian', says Mr Utah

Mr Utah told the ABC in a statement he was "pleased for Australia" that new anti-gang and corruption entities had formed since he fled.

"But the fact is, I am now not Australian," he said.

"Protection is questionable at best and it was found there is not and was not any 'internal flight avenue' available to me.

"What was done to me years ago is not the cause of current serving members of policing agencies … nor did the sitting [Federal] Government do this to me.

"But the institutions they currently serve most certainly did."

'Only case I'm aware of': expert

Australian National University international law expert Matthew Zagor said the refugee protection ruling on September 29 last year was unprecedented.

"This is the only case that I'm aware of, of an Australian citizen being recognised overseas by a tribunal on the basis that there's an absence of state protection," Associate Professor Zagor said.

He said Canada had a very thorough process for determining refugee and protection status.

"It's a difficult argument to make, no doubt," he said.

In a written judgment obtained by the ABC, IRB member Jodie Schmalzbauer found Mr Utah "established with 'clear and convincing evidence' the state's inability to provide operational adequate protection from the threat against him".

"I do find that the claimant would more likely than not face a serious risk to his life, almost immediately on his return to Australia," Ms Schmalzbauer said.

Bikie informant 'most dangerous job in the world'

Former detective Duncan McNab, who wrote a book about Mr Utah and gave evidence in the IRB hearing, said it was an extraordinary twist to a policing scandal that should never have happened.

"I think it's a great embarrassment that another country has said that we can't handle our registered agents, our undercover people, properly, fairly and humanely as well," Mr McNab said.

"What I really hope this does is ensure that the Utah mistakes don't happen again, that we look after these poor buggers placed in such dangerous circumstances.

"The most dangerous job in the world, I reckon, being undercover in the Bandidos bike gang."

The ACC, who paid Mr Utah as a registered agent and gave him certain legal immunity while he operated inside the Bandidos, removed him from "protective custody" after his cover was blown.

No Australian agency gave evidence in the Canadian hearing.

But Ms Schmalzbauer said the IRB had "no reason to discount" Mr Utah's account that the ACC had told him "he was done from the program ... and no other measure to protect him was available".

She accepted that authorities were "either unwilling or unable to provide protection to him at that time" and had since indicated "he has no access to relocation or any other form of witness protection".

She said Mr Utah's lawyer in Australia, Chris Hannay, had exhausted all options by approaching agencies, including Queensland Police, that had "jurisdiction to provide the claimant protective custody given the nature of his evidence in the murder that he witnessed".

Mr Hannay told the ABC such protection would have been necessary for Mr Utah to return to Australia to address historical fraud charges in Queensland, which were withdrawn then revived.

Australian judge raised safety concerns

Emails seen by the ABC suggest the ACC discussed with Mr Utah the delivering of a "sealed document", to support him in the District Court in Brisbane in 2006.

XXXXX_XXXX_XXXXXXXX@msn.com 22/08/2006, 9:31 pm

"Will you please contact my solicitor Mark Hartwell, he tells me you haven't and is feeling rather anxious about your intentions in relation to a sealed document. Respectfully, I am beginning to feel the same anxiety.

Thanks

Stevan"

Reply XXXX.XXXXXXXX@crimecommission.gov.au 22/08/2006, 10.08 pm

"Relax"

A week later, Judge Helen O'Sullivan emailed lawyers in the case, raising concerns about the "complex issue of Mr Utah's fears for his safety" after he had fled.

"I know nothing about what (if any) protection is currently being offered or could be offered" to Mr Utah, she said.

Law enforcement had 'head in the sand'

Mr Hannay told the ABC this month: "There was a grave concern he'd be executed in a jail, which is not uncommon, or he would be executed if he was allowed at large on bail."

"His only real alternative was to stay where he was [in Canada]."

Mr Hannay accused Australian law enforcement of having their "head in the sand" in relation to Mr Utah's safety.

He said his client had "assisted authorities with some significant matters that resulted in a number of arrests for very, very serious offences" but negotiations involving police agencies had "disintegrated".

The IRB was scathing in its summation of Australian authorities in Mr Utah's case.

"Although the state should not be obliged to guarantee perfect protection, there does appear to the panel to be a broader pattern due to corruption, ineptness and structural difficulties that when confronted with motivated and capable [outlaw motorcycle gangs] … that effective protection is not forthcoming, to informants or sources."

The IRB noted the higher burden of evidence required for an asylum seeker from a "highly-developed democracy such as Australia".

But it found Mr Utah gave "forthright, spontaneous and credible testimony" backed by "numerous credible witnesses", including two Canadian organised crime detectives and a former NSW gang squad intelligence officer.

Mr McNab said he had spoken to police who benefited from information Mr Utah provided.

"We're talking about drug deals, drug imports, meth labs, murder for hire, assaults for hire, the importation of firearms," he said.

"The guy is an invaluable asset … it's just damn sad it was handled so badly."

Neither the ACC's successor, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), nor the Queensland Police Service (QPS) answered detailed questions from the ABC.

An ACIC spokeswoman said it did not "comment on operational matters … as a matter of policy".

"This includes confirming or denying involvement in the ACIC's and the former Australian Crime Commission's human intelligence source [informants] capability," she said.

The QPS did not give any response.

Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission said it could not comment on whether it was aware of contracts on Mr Utah's life.