Bailed Comanchero boss Mick Murray wants to trade his winter woollies for some fun in the sun in Asia, despite fierce opposition from gang-busting detectives who fear he’ll never return.
The former president of the Comancheros outlaw motorcycle club pleaded with a magistrate to allow him to enjoy a two-week holiday in Thailand and Dubai ahead of his court appearance for a suite of alleged deception offences next month.
Murray was arrested and charged with more than 100 offences in December last year as part of major raids by Echo taskforce detectives on businesses across Melbourne. The majority of the charges relate to allegedly fraudulently obtaining a rental Jeep and unpaid toll fees and traffic fines.
He was bailed by police under the condition he surrender his passport and not enter any points of international departure. But now the burly bikie wants to take a load off and relax by the beach ahead of his contested hearing in September.
The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard Murray had already fully paid for flights to Phuket, leaving on Thursday and travelling with a mate. He is set to return just over two weeks before he fronts court again.
The court heard Murray was prepared to offer up a $1 million surety by way of his friend and sometime business partner, Graham Ritchie, in a bid to escape Melbourne’s winter blues. But Detective Luke Dalli told Magistrate Susan Wakeling the surety did little to appease the risk of Murray not returning.
“It would increase my concerns that he has access to large amounts of money at short notice,” he said.
Detective Dalli said Murray’s history made him an unacceptable flight risk. Murray is also facing a tax debt of more than $1 million, further increasing his motivation to flee, Detective Dalli told the court.
Mark Gumbleton, for Murray, argued the father-of-one had strong family and business ties to Victoria and the countries he was travelling to had no connections to his role in the Comancheros. Magistrate Susan Wakeling will deliver her decision tomorrow afternoon.
Make Sure You are Subscribed to our Facebook page!
Source: The West Australian