| Posted On 09:46 by Qleap | 0 comments |
Hamilton Hell's Angels will have to get used to a bit of extra scrutiny.
A fortification bylaw enacted by the City of Hamilton early last year is being enforced for the first time in an inspection of the Angels new clubhouse on Beach Road.
They'll check for things like heavy steel plating on doors, bars on windows and surveillance cameras.
The Hell's Angels lost their last clubhouse on Lottridge Avenue after a 2009 raid.
Seven members were arrested and the property was seized.
| Posted On 09:42 by Qleap | 0 comments |
Canada’s highest court is expected to decide Thursday whether it will hear the appeal of a ruling ordering a new trial for two Hells Angels accused of committing offences for a criminal organization.
In February the B.C. Court of Appeal allowed a federal Crown appeal and ordered the new trial for John Punko and Randy Potts.
The decision followed a November 2009 ruling by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Leask to throw out the criminal organization charges against the two men.
The pair had argued that the issue of whether the Hells Angels was a criminal organization had been decided by a jury during a prior trial involving Punko and Potts on weapons charges.
Following the Leask ruling, Punko and Potts pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce and traffic in methamphetamines, possession of the proceeds of crime and trafficking in cocaine.
Following the Court of Appeal ruling, Punko and Potts sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The high court indicated Tuesday that it would be ruling on that leave application on Thursday.
The federal Crown has indicated that it will be pursuing a new trial for Punko, but not Potts. The Punko matter has been adjourned until September pending the outcome of the Supreme Court of Canada proceedings.
Punko and Potts were among more than a dozen members and associates of the East End chapter of the Hells Angels arrested in 2005 following the RCMP’s Project E-Pandora.
| Posted On 09:38 by Qleap | 0 comments |
Kelowna, B.C., dad Dain Phillips would have done anything for his three sons and grandchildren.
So when his two youngest told him about an ongoing dispute with two brothers they had known in high school, he stepped in to resolve it peacefully.
Instead, Phillips was fatally beaten with hammers and baseball bats on a Kelowna roadside June 12.
Now two full-patch Hells Angels and five others have been charged with killing Phillips, 51.
The counts against Norman Cocks, 31, and Robert Thomas, 46, are the first accusing patch-wearing Hells Angels of murder in the 28-year history of the biker gang in B.C.
Also charged is Cocks' dad, Robert, the 52-year-old president of the Hells Angels puppet club, the Throttle Lockers.
Six of the seven accused killers, including both Cocks senior and junior, brothers Daniel and Matthew McRae, Anson Schell and Thomas Vaughan appeared in Kelowna provincial court Monday and were remanded in custody until July 21.
Thomas has not yet been arrested.
Phillips was attacked about 7 p.m. June 12 after he had agreed to meet some people connected to the feud with his sons.
Several men armed with hammers, baseball bats and other items arrived in two other vehicles and started striking Phillips.
Critically wounded and left unconscious in a pool of his blood, Phillips died later in hospital.
Kelowna RCMP Sgt. Anne Morrison confirmed after his death that Phillips did not provoke the attack nor did he engage in the altercation.
Two of the suspects charged in the death, brothers Daniel McRae, 21, and Matthew McRae, 19, attended Rutland Secondary School with Phillips's two youngest sons who are in their early 20s.
The pairs of brothers had exchanged heated words on a few occasions at a popular local party spot called Postill Lake.
After one of the exchanges, the Phillips brothers said they were threatened.
When their father heard about the threats, he wanted to sort the matter out and agreed to the meeting that would cost him his life, according to information obtained by the Vancouver Sun.
Phillips lived on a disability pension with his wife and toddler grandson. He had no criminal history.
At six foot three, Phillips was a right winger in the Western Hockey League from 1978 to 1980, playing with goaltender Kelly Hrudey in Medicine Hat, Alta., and Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff in Lethbridge, Alta.
The Hells Angels started its Kelowna chapter in 2007. The gang now has several puppet clubs operating in Kelowna and surrounding areas, including the Throttle Lockers and King Pins.
Hells Angels members in B.C. have been charged and convicted in drug cases and of extortion and assault, but have never been charged with murder until now.
Norman Cocks has no criminal record in B.C., according to the court database online. His dad, Robert, was charged in 100 Mile House, B.C., in 2008 with possessing a weapon without authorization and is due back in court in that case July 12.
Daniel McRae was convicted last November of damaging property and fined $500. He, his brother and Schell, 19, were all charged with assault in connection with an incident on June 27, 2010 and are still before the courts in that case. Their next appearance is Dec. 6, 2011.
Vaughan, 22, has no criminal history.
Thomas was convicted in 2006 with possession of stolen property and possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition. He got four months in jail and a lifetime firearms prohibition.
A service for Phillips was held on June 18, at the Heartland Ranch in Kelowna.
In his obituary, Phillips was remembered as "a hard working man with a lust for life."
"He was a family man in every sense of the term. Dad served his family with all of his huge heart up until the minute he died," said the obit.
"His legacy is his sons and the values he instilled in them, and the heart he taught everyone around him to live their lives with. He will be longingly missed by all and forever be in our hearts."
| Posted On 09:37 by Qleap | 0 comments |
Kelowna, B.C., dad Dain Phillips would have done anything for his three sons and grandchildren.
So when his two youngest told him about an ongoing dispute with two brothers they had known in high school, he stepped in to resolve it peacefully.
Instead, Phillips was fatally beaten with hammers and baseball bats on a Kelowna roadside June 12.
Now two full-patch Hells Angels and five others have been charged with killing Phillips, 51.
The counts against Norman Cocks, 31, and Robert Thomas, 46, are the first accusing patch-wearing Hells Angels of murder in the 28-year history of the biker gang in B.C.
Also charged is Cocks' dad, Robert, the 52-year-old president of the Hells Angels puppet club, the Throttle Lockers.
Six of the seven accused killers, including both Cocks senior and junior, brothers Daniel and Matthew McRae, Anson Schell and Thomas Vaughan appeared in Kelowna provincial court Monday and were remanded in custody until July 21.
Thomas has not yet been arrested.
Phillips was attacked about 7 p.m. June 12 after he had agreed to meet some people connected to the feud with his sons.
Several men armed with hammers, baseball bats and other items arrived in two other vehicles and started striking Phillips.
Critically wounded and left unconscious in a pool of his blood, Phillips died later in hospital.
Kelowna RCMP Sgt. Anne Morrison confirmed after his death that Phillips did not provoke the attack nor did he engage in the altercation.
Two of the suspects charged in the death, brothers Daniel McRae, 21, and Matthew McRae, 19, attended Rutland Secondary School with Phillips's two youngest sons who are in their early 20s.
The pairs of brothers had exchanged heated words on a few occasions at a popular local party spot called Postill Lake.
After one of the exchanges, the Phillips brothers said they were threatened.
When their father heard about the threats, he wanted to sort the matter out and agreed to the meeting that would cost him his life, according to information obtained by the Vancouver Sun.
Phillips lived on a disability pension with his wife and toddler grandson. He had no criminal history.
At six foot three, Phillips was a right winger in the Western Hockey League from 1978 to 1980, playing with goaltender Kelly Hrudey in Medicine Hat, Alta., and Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff in Lethbridge, Alta.
The Hells Angels started its Kelowna chapter in 2007. The gang now has several puppet clubs operating in Kelowna and surrounding areas, including the Throttle Lockers and King Pins.
Hells Angels members in B.C. have been charged and convicted in drug cases and of extortion and assault, but have never been charged with murder until now.
Norman Cocks has no criminal record in B.C., according to the court database online. His dad, Robert, was charged in 100 Mile House, B.C., in 2008 with possessing a weapon without authorization and is due back in court in that case July 12.
Daniel McRae was convicted last November of damaging property and fined $500. He, his brother and Schell, 19, were all charged with assault in connection with an incident on June 27, 2010 and are still before the courts in that case. Their next appearance is Dec. 6, 2011.
Vaughan, 22, has no criminal history.
Thomas was convicted in 2006 with possession of stolen property and possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition. He got four months in jail and a lifetime firearms prohibition.
A service for Phillips was held on June 18, at the Heartland Ranch in Kelowna.
In his obituary, Phillips was remembered as "a hard working man with a lust for life."
"He was a family man in every sense of the term. Dad served his family with all of his huge heart up until the minute he died," said the obit.
"His legacy is his sons and the values he instilled in them, and the heart he taught everyone around him to live their lives with. He will be longingly missed by all and forever be in our hearts."
