Two gang members face joint firearm charge

Press, 15 May 1985, Page 6

Two gang members face joint firearm charge

Exchanges of shooting which left one man dead and another injured were alleged by the police in the District Court yesterday to have occurred as a result of gang rivalry on the evening of Sunday, March 31. At a preliminary hearing yesterday, two members of the Devil’s Henchmen motor-cycle gang, Royce John Bartram, and Rex

Bruce White, faced a joint charge of discharging a firearm at members of the Highway 61 gang with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Atfer hearing depositions or statements of evidence from 26 prosecution witnesses, Messrs R. C. Holland and C. W. Crawford, Justices of the Peace, adjourned the hearing to today

for completion. Bartram, aged 23, unemployed, was represented by Mr A. N. D. Garrett, and White, aged 28, a labourer by Messrs P. H. B. Hall and J. H. Wood. Sergeant G. C. Jones prosecuted. The police alleged that Bartram and White twice went past the Highway 61 gang headquarters, dis-

charging a .22 pistol the first time and a shotgun the second, but that Bartram was the victim of a retaliatory shot and suffered a severe hand injury.

On returning to the Devil’s Henchmen headquarters he collapsed and a fellow gang member, Graeme Innes, who went to telephone for help for him,

was fatally shot in the street.

On the application of Sergeant Jones, the Justices of the Peace made an order precluding members of the public from the Court. The application was heard in chambers.

Sergeant Jones, outlining the police case, said it was alleged that on the evening of Sunday, March 31, the

two defendants, who were members of the Devil’s Henchmen motor-cycle gang, left the gang’s headquarters at 573 Ferry Road, on Bartram’s motor-cycle. They rode the motor-cycle to the headquarters of the Highway 61 gang at 588 Worcester Street, carrying with them a .22 calibre firearm. Outside the Highway 61

headquarters they discharged a number of shots at members of that gang, who were standing on a catwalk behind their front fence, the police alleged. It was not known by the police if any person was struck by the bullets fired. Sergeant Jones said the two then allegedly drove back to their headquarters in Ferry Road and obtained

a 12-gauge shotgun previously procured by White. The two were then alleged to have returned to outside the Highway 61 headquarters, where a number of shots were exchanged between Bartram and White and members of the Highway 61 gang. This occurred about 10 p.m. As a result of the exchange of shots, Bartram suffered gunshot wounds to the left hand, right arm, and right leg. They returned to their Ferry Road address. On the way back, the shotgun was dropped in Linwood Avenue, and White took over the driving of the motor-cycle from Bartram, it was alleged. On reaching their address in Ferry Road, Bartram was left lying in the driveway, awaiting medical assistance. Another member of the Devil’s Henchmen motorcycle gang who went to a nearby telephone-box to call for assistance was shot dead by the occupants of a car. Sergeant Jones said that the police alleged that White, along with another unknown member of the Devil’s Henchmen, left the address on a motor-cycle and returned to Linwood Avenue, where they recovered the shotgun which had been dropped there previously. Sergeant Jones said that evidence would be given of two men seen carrying a shotgun while riding a motor-cycle in Linwood Avenue; the sound of shots fired in the vicinity of 588

Worcester Street; of White’s obtaining a shotgun; of a conversation between White and other gang members relating to the alleged shooting outside 588 Worcester Street; and evidence of police interviews with Bartram and White. Scientific evidence would also be given, Sergeant Jones said.

On the application of defence counsel, the evidence of three civilian witnesses was suppressed for yesterday’s hearing. Other witnesses who were in the vicinity of the Highway 61 headquarters told of hearing a motor-cycle and shots being fired, on the evening of March 31. Sandra Estelle Hines, a technician, gave evidence of driving east on Gloucester Street at 10 p.m. on March 31. Turning the roundabout at Linwood Avenue she heard a sound like a car backfiring on the eastern side of Linwood Avenue. When she stopped for traffic lights at the intersection of Hereford Street and Linwood Avenue, a big motor-cycle travelling in the same direction passed her, driving through the red light phase. A person was slumped over the petrol tank over the machine, which appeared to be driven by the person at the rear. Both persons wore black clothing, and what appeared to be leather jackets. The motor-cycle continued along Linwood Avenue. Witness passed it again where it was stopped in Linwood Avenue, past

Aidwins Road. One person stood alongside the motorcycle. The other was still slumped over the front of the machine. Neil Keith Salter, a surveyor, said that while he was turning into Linwood Avenue at 10 p.m. on March 31, a motor-cycle passed in front of his car. The pillion passenger held a weapon with a full-length barrel. The rider was fairly well built and with long, untidy hair and a beard. The two wore dark clothing. The motor-cycle turned into Tilford Street, travelling towards Ferry Road. Other witnesses also gave evidence of seeing two persons in the same vicinity on a motor-cycle, one carrying a double-barrel shotgun. Detective Sergeant R. J. Hawkes said he investigated a firearms incident at 1.30 a.m. on April 1 and found a pool of blood in the drive, of the Devil’s Henchmen headquarters, and drops of blood along the driveway Some articles of clothing, heavily stained with blood, were found near the pool of blood. A Triumph motor-cycle which he later found to belong to Bartram, a member of the Devil’s Henchmen, was found parked in a shed at the headquarters. There were indentations on the fuel tank and blood on the machine. The evidence given by detectives who questioned the defendants during their investigations was suppressed for the preliminary ♦ hearing, at the request of J defence counsel, on grounds s.’ which they specified.