The Rebels members were said to be brandishing club ink.
The Rebels members were said to be brandishing club ink.
Three Perth-based outlaw motorcycle gang members have received landmark convictions under strict new gang laws after being caught showing their club tattoos while shirtless at a pool party.
Jamie Ginn, Jason Pettigrove and Jesse Copeman are the first to be convicted of flaunting outlawed gang tattoos under the laws introduced in 2021.
“We no longer live in a free country,” Ginn declared outside court on Tuesday.
“We can’t have on our bodies what we want. We can’t wear what we want. We can’t hang around who we want,” Ginn said, revealing his ink would stay.
Ginn, Pettigrove and Copeman received a conviction and an acquittal each for displaying banned gang tattoos at a pool party in breach of the tough new legislation.
Defence lawyers argued as the pool at the Rendezvous Hotel is not public, no laws were broken.
Though that was to little avail, with the magistrate rejecting the argument.
WA Rebels members Jesse Copeman and Jamie Ginn. Photo / Facebook
Of the seven charges in total, just three were convicted.
Despite the mixed result, WA (Western Australia) Police Commissioner Col Blanch claimed the outcome was a “win for police”.
“There were three convictions, and this is the first time it’s been done,” he said.
Other bikies have been hit with summonses under the new laws but have opted to cop the fine instead. Tuesday marked the legislation’s first courtroom test.
Under the new Western Australian laws targeting outlaw motorcycle gangs, an offender can be jailed for up to a year and fined A$12,000 ($12,800) for consorting or displaying the insignia of an identified organisation in a public place.
Gang tattoos and patches fall within the laws, with some members already seen publicly growing hair over or taping up tattoos.
The new laws also saw the introduction of what the WA Government itself labelled the “toughest anti-consorting regime in the country”.
Breaches carry a maximum penalty of five years in jail.
Bodycam police footage of the pool party at the Rendezvous hotel in Perth where the outlaw motorcycle gang members were said to display club insignia publicly. Photo / WA Police
In late 2022, the heavy-handed laws were enough to unite warring gangs in solidarity against the rules. Mongols member Troy Mercanti, the first person in the state charged under the laws, kicked off a legal challenge to the High Court of Australia, represented by one of the state’s top barristers.
WA Today reported that the challenge would be bankrolled by WA gangs, with members asked to donate. It also reported that two summits with representatives from all clubs had already been held on the issue.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said the state was taking a zero-tolerance approach by introducing the new laws.
“This government is serious about stopping organised crime and protecting the community from the intimidation and violence carried out by bikie gangs,” he said.
When quizzed on the technicalities of the insignia laws in 2021, commissioner Blanch suggested “Band-Aids” or “makeup” to cover tattoos.
“’I would start with things like Band-Aids or makeup certainly or have it removed, or alternatively, people can choose the option not to live in Western Australia if this law passes,” he told 6PR’s Mornings Program.
