An outlaw motorcycle club member hid in a bathroom with his girlfriend when two men, including a senior club rival, allegedly broke into a home and shot at him, a court has heard.
Aofangutukau Fatafehi Finau Langi, who police say is the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle club’s Canberra sergeant-at-arms, failed in a bid to be released on bail on Friday. His co-accused, Christopher James Millington, did not apply for bail when he appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court earlier in the day.
Both men, aged 31, are expected back in court on March 12. The pair each face nine charges relating to an alleged attack at a Kambah home on November 21 last year. Neither man has entered pleas.
The allegations include that after entering the home, they shot at Alexander Victor Miller, a former Canberra Comanchero who patched over to rival club the Nomads. The court heard on Friday that during the incident, Miller and his girlfriend took shelter in a bathroom.
Mr Langi and Mr Millington are also accused of starting a fire that caused damage to the entrance to the house and the living area. The charges they face include discharging a firearm at Miller, arson, aggravated burglary, participating in a criminal group, and conspiracy offences.
Mr Millington is further accused of attempting to destroy evidence on Wednesday, the same day Mr Langi was arrested. Lawyer Luke Vozella, applying for bail on behalf of Mr Langi, described the case against his client as relying on circumstantial evidence. He said when Mr Langi’s home was raided in the early hours of Wednesday morning, “nothing adverse was found”.
He also described some of the prosecution’s assertions about Mr Langi’s involvement in club life as “breathtakingly general”. Mr Vozella said his client had previously shown he could comply with bail, and he was willing to abide by proposed conditions including not entering Tuggeranong and observing a 7pm to 6am curfew.
Mr Vozella said Mr Langi had a “quite limited” criminal history and had stable housing and employment, with half his pay going towards supporting family in Sydney. He said there were also questions about Mr Langi’s alleged “level of participation”, with some of the prosecution’s case making reference to a “personal vendetta” of the co-accused.
Concerns about Mr Langi interfering with witnesses while on bail should be ameliorated, Mr Vozella argued, by the fact the alleged co-offender and alleged victim were both now in custody on remand. But prosecutor Anna Jamieson-Williams said it was “disingenuous” for an outlaw motorcycle club member to say he would abide by bail conditions, or even the law in general.
“[Mr Langi] belongs to a group of people who pride themselves on being lawless,” she told the court.
Ms Jamieson-Williams said the allegations relating to the Kambah incident were “troubling to say the least”. She said Mr Langi appeared not to have been perturbed by the presence of Miller’s girlfriend during the alleged attack. There was also a “key witness” who had not yet spoken to police, and Mr Langi had demonstrated a pattern of intimidating behaviour in the past, she said.
Ms Jamieson-Williams said Mr Langi was also a person of interest in ongoing investigations into several incidents that included shootings and arsons.
Magistrate James Lawton described the prosecution’s case against Mr Langi as “strong”, and consisting of both direct and circumstantial evidence. Mr Lawton said based on documents tendered to the court, it appeared the alleged victim had directly identified Mr Langi as the perpetrator in the Kambah incident. In refusing Mr Langi’s bail application, Mr Lawton said he was not confident the man would abide by any conditions.
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Source: The Canberra Times