Bikies charged under new Qld laws get bail

Two bikie gang members arrested for gathering at their Cairns clubhouse have been granted bail.

Two bikie gang members arrested for gathering at their clubhouse in Queensland have been granted bail.

Peter Johnson and Mark Filtness, both 47, were arrested in Cairns on Friday morning and charged with offences under the state's new anti-bikie gang laws.

The pair were granted bail in the Cairns Magistrates Court about 4.30pm (AEST) on Friday.

The men must surrender their passports and are due to reappear on November 1.

They were arrested on Friday morning and each face one charge of being a participant in a criminal organisation entering a prescribed place.

The court heard that the pair told police they had been members of the Odin's Warriors for 20 years.

Their lawyer, Philip Bovey, said the pair had been at the gang's clubhouse as both of their flats were located on the same property.

He said the men were arrested shortly after Johnson visited Cairns Police Station to ask whether it was against the law for him to be living on the same property as the clubhouse.

Mr Bovey argued the men didn't pose a flight risk or a threat to the community.

He said Johnson had no criminal history, while Filtness had only been convicted on minor charges in 2000 and in the 1980s.

Johnson works as a diesel fitter in Weipa on Cape York and Filtness is a truck driver.

Police prosecutors opposed bail, saying the men were a flight risk as the club could provide financial assistance.

They argued that the pair could flee as they face a mandatory six month jail term if convicted.

But Magistrate Trevor Black granted both men bail, saying they would not be a flight risk.

He also indicated he needed time to read over and understand the new laws before the proceedings continued.

"I just downloaded something off the internet to try to catch up with this legislation," Mr Black said.


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Source: AAP


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