BIKER NEWS: Court told of bikie’s threats to bar owner

BN- “We run this city...and if you don’t pay, we will close your business down by one means or another.”

With those words, the most senior chapter of WA’s Comancheros bikie gang demanded $10,000 a week in protection money from the owners of a Northbridge karaoke bar.

And with late night visits from dozens of patched members, intimidating phone calls and texts — and eventually a Molotov cocktail thrown into the bar — the threats became a reality.

In the District Court yesterday, Ronald Ernest Parr, commander and most senior member of WA’s Comancheros gang, went on trial accused of masterminding the extortion racket prosecutors allege ran for more than a year up until May last year.

Mr Parr, who owned the gym which doubled as the Comancheros Northbridge headquarters, is accused of being present at the very start and the very end of the extortion attempt, which began before the targeted business had even opened its doors.

The owners steadfastly refused to pay any money, despite repeated visits from Parr and what prosecutors described as his foot soldiers and lackeys — including “Lethal” Leslie Grantham, the gang’s sergeant-at-arms and disciplinarian.

But when another associate, Selcuk Kilinc, rode up to the club early on March 9 last year and threw a bottle full of diesel up the stairwell, the owners contacted police.

The jury was told that call sparked a deep undercover operation, which set up a covert operative known as “Danny” to pose as the owner of the karaoke bar.

Four meetings between Danny and various Comanchero members were set up, and secretly recorded, during which they boasted how if businesses on their patch wanted to earn a living, they also needed to pay a fee.

This article was first published on October 23, 2015, 1:00 am

Get a copy of The West Australian or go to au.news.yahoo.com for more stories.