Hells Angel granted bail
MEAGAN DILLON
| September 15th, 2011
Nicholas 'Shonky' Cassidy leaves
Darwin Supreme Court after being granted bail.
A HELLS Angel
gang member charged over the fatal hit-and-run of Levi Griffiths was
granted bail after more than three months in custody.
But outside court,
Nicholas Frank Cassidy said it was "rough justice".
He added he couldn't comment any further because the matter was
before the court.
Crown prosecutor Paul
Usher told the NT Supreme Court there was concern that Mr Cassidy
would intimidate witnesses if released from custody.
His lawyer Peter
Elliott said the father-of-two had never been charged with
intimidating witnesses and there was no evidence he would do so.
But Mr Usher said:
"Perhaps the perception of intimidation may be intimidation itself
given who the defendant is."
He added that Mr
Cassidy had already been charged with interfering with evidence
after allegedly "engineering" paint tins to fall on the windscreen
of the car used in the hit-and-run in Darwin's rural area on June 4.
But Justice Dean
Mildren said there was "no significant risk" that Mr Cassidy would
tamper with evid- ence, witnesses or jurors.
"But because he is a
member of the Hells Angels I consider it a possibility," he said.
He said he would make an order that restricted the 40-year-old from
approaching any of the Crown witnesses.
Justice Mildren said
one of the reasons he granted bail was because Mr Cassidy could be
in custody up to 12 months waiting for the trial to start.
He added the Crown was
relying on circumstantial evidence and had not obtained any
forensics from the car or crash scene.
"It's not the strongest
case in the world," he said.
Mr Usher told the court
that Mr Cassidy allegedly assaulted a police superintendent when
they went to visit him in custody on Tuesday.
But Mr Elliott said:
"The accusation of assault is not a serious one." Mr Cassidy has to
report to police three times a week and will re-appear in court next
month.