Hells Angels vs Comancheros, Court mix up gives biker names of rivals

[Much]

* Hells Angels given Comancheros addresses
* Bungle thanks to a court mix-up
* List includes Comanchero boss "Mick" Hawi

A HELLS Angels bikie was handed the names and addresses of 47 members of the rival Comanchero gang - thanks to a court mix-up.

An urgent inquiry was ordered last night after it was revealed that Hells Angels bikie David Padovan was faxed the wrong list as part of his bail conditions.

Instead of being sent a list naming Hells Angels he must not associate with, Padovan received one detailing addresses, phone numbers and birth dates of Comanchero members, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Padovan, of Greystanes, is one of 14 bikies arrested over the March 22 Sydney Airport brawl allegedly between Hells Angels and Comanchero bikies that left Anthony Zervas dead.

Zervas, 29, was the brother of senior Hells Angels member Peter Zervas, the only other member of the gang charged.


Padovan - charged with riot and affray - was granted bail in Sydney's Central Local Court last month on condition that he not associate with any members of his own motorcycle club before any hearing of the charges.

However, his solicitor Philip Stewart told Central Local Court yesterday the wrong paperwork for Padovan to sign and keep was faxed to Sydney's Long Bay jail.

The list sent to the jail - and seen by The Daily Telegraph - includes the personal details of Comanchero boss Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi and fellow airport brawl accused Maher Aouli, Erden Canan, Christian Menzies and Pomare Pirini.

"The error occurred, it appears, from the court registry,'' Mr Stewart told magistrate David Armati.

Mr Stewart said he wished to put the matter on the record to alert the court to the mistake - especially as it was hoped the same error had not occurred in reverse.

"Mr Padovan just wants to assure himself that his name doesn't appear on the list that's gone to the Comanchero, simply for his own safety and that of his family," Mr Stewart said.

He gave the court his undertaking that the list had not been "copied, distributed or disseminated" by Padovan.

A spokesman for Attorney-General John Hatzistergos last night agreed the mix-up was cause for concern and said that the Government "has ordered an immediate investigation".

Court sources are understood to be at a loss to explain the apparent clerical error, given the only documentation they would have used to process Padovan's bail would have come directly to them from the courtroom.

Solicitor Lesly Randle, who acts for Hawi and all the charged Comanchero, said there had clearly been a "serious administrative mishap''.

"It has obviously caused my clients and their families some degree of concern that their personal information has been handed to somebody said by police to be their so-called enemy,'' she told The Daily Telegraph last night.

Detective Superintendent Mal Lanyon last night said police would remain vigilant.

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Hells Angels pay $6m for members
Les Kennedy
April 3, 2011



EXCLUSIVE
Hells Angels.

Branch stack ... the gang is preparing for a legal battle. Photo: Kate Geraghty

A MASS defection of Bandidos bikie members to the Hells Angels in Sydney came with a price tag of $6 million in an extraordinary peacekeeping deal struck between the two former rival gangs.

The payout to secure the defections, aimed at bolstering Hells Angels ranks in NSW, included the formal signing of a contract, The Sun-Herald can reveal.

NSW Gang Squad police have learned that the recruitment of 60 Bandidos members from three of its Sydney chapters in February, including the entire Bandidos Parramatta branch, cost the Hells Angels $6 million. That would translate to $100,000 for every Bandido adopting the flying skull logo of the Hells Angels.
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It is unclear if the money went into the coffers of the remaining Bandidos branches or has been paid to each defector.

The recruitment drive is aimed at boosting the Hells Angels' ranks before the High Court decides if NSW Police moves to outlaw the club under anti-gang legislation are lawful.

Bolstering Hells Angels numbers to form new chapters in Kings Cross, Haymarket and Parramatta is also believed to counter the Comanchero and Nomad gangs, who have taken in members of the now defunct Kings Cross gang Notorious.

It is understood the recruitment deal was organised by Felix Lyle, a former Bandido who is a rising force in the Hells Angels. Offers were also made to members of other clubs.

Switching clubs is considered a serious transgression and often leads to violence; hence the payout.

The Hells Angels and Comancheros have been feuding since the Comancheros firebombed a Hells Angels tattoo parlour in 2008.

The fatal airport brawl of March 2009 and subsequent revenge shooting of Hells Angels member Peter Zervas were allegedly results of the firebombing.

But with the increase in Hells Angels ranks to more than 100 members in NSW has come the retirement of at least six long-serving members last week, including Peter Zervas, whose brother Anthony was allegedly bashed to death in the airport brawl.

Another retiree was Anthony Wainohu, an original member of the Hells Angels' first Sydney chapter, formed in Guildford in 1975.