The Bandidos’ infamous Brunswick clubhouse has been abandoned after the motorcycle club was told to leave.
The club vacated the prime Weston Street site it called home for many years, leaving behind a bloody history of shootings, deaths and police raids.
Former Bandidos enforcer Toby Mitchell spent months in the Royal Melbourne Hospital after he was shot five times outside Doherty’s Gym, near the clubhouse, in November 2011. Mitchell was hit in the stomach, then staggered 100m before falling in the Barkly Square carpark. A stray bullet also hit a shopper’s car.
It’s understood Doherty’s Gym will now take over the prime inner-city site located directly opposite busy Barkly Square shopping centre. A source, who did not want to be named, confirmed the Bandidos’ Melbourne chapter was bounced earlier this year. The source said the site’s landlord had tried to evict the violent bikie gang for “about 18 months” but “they just wouldn’t leave”.
Work converting the old bikie den into expanded gym space had begun, the source said. The works include removing a bar area and ditching a stripper’s pole and podium.
The famous Bandido Melbourne signage which adorned the outside of the building has been removed.
Local traders and residents would be relieved the violent gang has moved on.
Mark, who did not wish to give his surname, said he had lived near the clubhouse for several years. “There was never any problems with them and I never felt threatened but there has been shootings there so you never know (what could happen),” he said.
The Bandidos and their old clubhouse have seen a fair bit of trouble over the past decade.
Victoria Police anti-bikie officers from the Echo Taskforce raided the clubhouse as recently as August last year.
Investigators allegedly seized a loaded gun and drugs believed to be steroids after locking the area down. And while Mitchell survived the botched execution attempt, others haven’t been as lucky.
In 2014, Dandenong glazier Michael Strike was beaten to death inside the clubhouse.
In 2017, three men were shot in front of the building.
In 2018, a club member was found dead with self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
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Source: Herald Sun by PAUL SHAPIRO