Australasian biker news

AUSTRALASIAN BIKER NEWS

Anger as bikies break silence
From: AAP By Tim Clarke
February 06, 2006
MEMBERS of the bikie gang that had one of its members shot and killed at a remote West Australian hamlet five years ago have broken their silence about the murder, amid angry scenes at a Perth inquest today.

Riders from the Gypsy Jokers were giving evidence at the inquest of Billy Grierson, who died from a single sniper's bullet as he sat around a campfire in the goldfields town of Ora Banda in October, 2000.
And as Mr Grierson's friends told how they had desperately tried to find medical aid before he died, they also refused to elaborate on why they refused to help the police investigation, and angrily denied being involved in the shooting themselves.

Gypsy Joker Colin Blakeney, the last person to see Mr Grierson alive, told the inquest how he had driven the father-of-one to a nearby mine community after the shooting to try and get him treatment.

"I heard Billy take his last breath, and then I saw the first aid crew pumping him madly," Mr Blakeney said.

"I was getting mad and angry because there was no signs of life ... you know he's dead, and you just want people to leave him alone."

Advertisement:
Mr Blakeney said he had never been approached by police following the murder.
He said he had not given them his account because he wished to maintain his right to silence, while fellow Joker James "Spud" Mansen would not answer when asked whether the gang's code of silence was more important than his friend's murder.

When lawyer Mark Trowell, representing police involved in the murder investigation, suggested that was an approach a suspect might take, Mr Blakeney angrily refused to answer any more questions.

"I'm not the killer ... I don't like where you are going with this mate," he told Mr Trowell.

The inquest was granted by WA coroner Alastair Hope after Mr Grierson's de facto wife Nikki Skerry said she thought issues surrounding Mr Grierson's death remained unresolved.

Many of them revolve around the prime suspect in the shooting, Don Hancock, the former head of WA's Criminal Investigation Bureau, who had retired to Ora Banda to run the hamlet's historic inn.

Less than a year after Mr Grierson's death, and following a series of firebombs that destroyed Mr Hancock's business and home in Ora Banda, the retired detective and his friend Lou Lewis were killed by a car bomb.

Gypsy Joker Sid "Snot" Reid admitted to planting that bomb in revenge for Mr Grierson's death and told police fellow bikie Graeme "Slim" Slater masterminded the attack.

But two court cases cleared Slater of any part in Mr Hancock's murder or the firebombings, while four other Gypsy Jokers were exonerated over the destruction of Mr Hancock's Ora Banda properties.

Earlier evidence surrounded suggestions that Mr Grierson may have been shot by one of his own number because he was planning to leave the gang, and was due to be a witness in a rape trial against the gang's wishes.

But Mr Mansen said he had been given no indication Mr Grierson was leaving the gang.

The inquest continues.

Bikie gang member breaks silence over colleague's death

Members of a motorcycle club have broken their silence to give evidence at an inquest into the death of one of their colleagues in the Western Australian Goldfields six years ago.

Until now, Gypsy Joker motorcycle club's Kurt Friedauer had refused to speak to authorities investigating the shooting of Billy Grierson at Ora Banda in October 2000.

An inquest has heard the prime suspect was former senior police officer, Don Hancock, who was murdered a year later in a revenge car bomb attack.

Today Mr Friedauer told the inquest he was sitting next to Mr Grierson when he heard a bang.

He said Mr Grierson told him he had been hit and he was dying.

He also testified that a couple of hours before the shooting, Mr Hancock had become angry and was yelling and screaming at people to leave the local hotel.

The inquest is continuing.

Back

HOME

Hit Counter