Millennium Locksmiths on Wellington Road at East Brisbane. PIC: Tim Marsden Source: The Courier-Mail
THIS is the story that two Brisbane brothers with links to the Hells Angels, one of the world's most notorious outlaw motorcycle gangs, tried to stop.
Millennium Locks last month obtained a security licence despite a record of complaints against it including alleged death threats towards a competitor who made a complaint about them.
Millennium also won work from the Queensland Police Service despite owners Bruno and Nuno Da Silva being caught up in an ongoing police probe of a violent outlaw motorcycle gang feud.
The Da Silva brothers dragged The Courier-Mail to the Supreme Court, represented by high-profile civil libertarian, lawyer Terry O'Gorman and his QC brother Dan, in a legal bid to stop publication.
But The Courier-Mail investigation - which can be revealed after a judge dismissed the attempt to silence the story - found a locksmith complained to the Office of Fair Trading of receiving death threats from Bruno, who allegedly told him he would "slit your throat".
Police cautioned the threatened man against making a formal complaint against Bruno, who admits to being a one time Hells Angels "prospect".
Despite the Da Silvas' record of scrutiny by police, QPS called out Millennium to unlock a door at an Upper Mt Gravatt house on September 24 and to unlock an Audi A4 at Acacia Ridge on June 7.
Police said Millennium had "links with the Hells Angels" after a violent invasion of its East Brisbane premises in April by masked men with baseball bats as part of a suspected feud with the Bandidos.
The Da Silvas, who have social and business ties with senior Hells Angels Errol Gildea and Mark Nelms, were both assaulted but refused to make complaints to police.
Millennium, whose first locksmith was a convicted thief, had several staff quit over the incident.
The firm surrendered its security licence, which allows it to perform lucrative commercial work, on August 23.
But it does not require a licence to cut car keys or install home locks.
One of Brisbane's biggest sellers of electronic car keys, Millennium claims $1.3 million income a year.
The OFT, which approved Millennium's new security firm licence on November 15, said it did not comment on licence holders "unless it finds sufficient evidence the trader poses a risk to consumers".
It must consider a security licence holder "an appropriate person", with regard to criminal history including alleged offences and associations with criminals.
Court documents show the Da Silvas were targets of operations by the state drug investigation unit in 2004 and Task Force Hydra in 2009.
Nuno was hit with a criminal confiscation action in 2010 but that was dropped after his wedding guests, including then Queensland Hells Angels president Mr Gildea, said almost $130,000 cash seized by police was a gift.
Hydra detectives seized the cash during a search of Bruno's car in 2009.
Nuno, whose Morningside unit was raided by drug squad detectives in 2004, was fined $800 after pleading guilty to possessing 50gm of cannabis and two vials of steroids.
The Locksmiths Guild of Australia has a "watching brief" on Millennium, whose Hells Angels links are a concern to many in the industry.
One career locksmith said Millennium had created "an unsavoury situation" for the profession, which needed to be "above all temptation and corruption".
The Da Silvas' lawyer said complaints by a locksmith competitor to the OFT and the LGA had not been substantiated, while customer complaints were "discussed with a client and dealt with".
"The Da Silvas' business . . . has substantially grown in size as a result of their hard work and their clients' satisfaction with their work," he said.
