A former Finks bikie has been arrested in Sydney after leaving South Australia before his trial was set to begin. He was arrested at the airport returning from Bali but he says he was receiving cancer tests not available in Adelaide.
Christopher Darren Shah, 34, failed to appear for the start of his trial on October 15, prompting the judge to issue a warrant for his arrest. He was arrested at Sydney Airport last Friday by Australian Federal Police after arriving on a flight from Bali.
It was the latest chapter in a seven-year saga that has seen Shah sentenced to jail – and then have his conviction overturned – over allegations that he deliberately rammed a police car.
In court this week, his barrister David Moen said that he did not appear for the start of his retrial because he was receiving tests for bowel cancer that could not be carried out in South Australia.
The fact Shah – a former member of the now-defunct Finks Motorcycle Club – was arrested after arriving from the popular Indonesian holiday spot was not mentioned in court. Appearing in the District Court for a bail application, Mr Moen indicated that a resolution to the long-running court case was a possibility.
Mr Moen asked that Shah be released on home detention to live with his parents, which would “obviate the flight risk”. But prosecutor Tomas Macura objected to the bail, telling the court that the long process had been frustrated by Shah.
“What was also observed by your Honour on the last occasion, (the delays) could also be because of some underlying psychological difficulty in facing the music, as it were, making a decision whether to stick or twist,” Mr Macura said.
Judge Joanne Tracey refused to grant bail to Shah, saying he was “a poor candidate for bail of any sort”.
Shah has had a fraught history with the courts since he was arrested for allegedly ramming an unmarked police car on July 19, 2012. He was charged with endangering the lives of two detectives who were sitting in the unmarked police car.
The incident sparked a large manhunt of the northern suburbs as members of Crime Gangs Task Force searched for the missing driver, who fled the scene. Shah was taken into custody after STAR Group officers followed him to a Para Hills home and arrested him without incident. Shah was due to stand trial on October 15, more than seven years after the initial incident occurred, but failed to arrive in court.
He will appear in court again in December.
Source: The West Australian