Milperra massacre
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The Milperra Massacre was the name of an incident which occurred on Father's Day 1984, or September 2nd 1984, in Milperra, a south-western suburb of Sydney, in which seven people were killed, including six motorcycle gang members and a young woman bystander.
Two heavily armed outlaw motorcycle gangs, known as the Comancheros and the Bandidos clashed in the carpark of the Viking Tavern during a motorcycle part swap meet. In a murderous shootout between the Bandidos and the Comancheros, six gang members and a 14-year-old bystander, Leanne Walters, were gunned down in a long-running feud. The Bandidos had broken away from the Comancheros and there was intense rivalry between them and other outlaw gangs for control of the cocaine trade and the manufacture and supply of speed (amphetamines) – plus car-stealing and money laundering.
As a result of the massacre the New South Wales Firearms and Dangerous Weapons Act 1973 was subsequently amended. The court case following the "Milperra Massacre" was at the time one of the largest in Australian history. Forty-three people were charged with seven counts of murder.[citation needed]
The judge in the case named the instigator of the violence as William "Jock" Ross, the "supreme commander" of the Comancheros, saying "Ross was primarily responsible for the decision that members of his club go to Milperra in force and armed.". Ross received a life sentence for his role in the violence.
Seven other members of the Comancheros gang received life sentences and 16 Bandidos served 14 years for manslaughter. Commonwealth Games gold Medallist boxer Philip McElwaine was the only motorcycle club member to be acquitted of the manslaughter and murder charges that were brought against him.[1][2]
[edit] References
- ^ BBC ON THIS DAY | 2 | 1984: Seven killed in Sydney biker shootings
- ^ Simpson, Lindsay; Sandra Harvey (1989). Brothers in Arms. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-501-4.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- NSW Police History of Firearms legislation
- Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC): information about the 1 percenters - a film about the massacre
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