BIKER NEWS: Rebels boss AJ Graham pleads for prison time in Tasmania

BN- FORMER Rebels motorcycle gang member AJ Graham has made a heartfelt plea to be returned to a Tasmanian prison as he continues his legal fight against deportation.

Mr Graham appeared in the Hobart Magistrates Court via video link from immigration detention in NSW’s Goulburn Supermax prison yesterday.

He is facing charges of failing to stop, failing to drive at a safe distance and driving with an illicit drug in his system.

The case will return to the Magistrates Court on December 12 ahead of a hearing likely to be next year.

At the end of proceedings, Mr Graham told Magistrate Michael Daly he wanted to be moved closer to his family.

“I have a past and that was my past and I’ve been out of jail for a lot of years,” he said.

“I’m missing my loved ones and the distance is affecting me greatly.

“Tasmania has a prison that is good enough for Martin Bryant, it should be good enough for me.”

Graham, a former president of the Rebels’ Kingston chapter and a New Zealand citizen, was swooped up by immigration officials during one of the state’s biggest bikie crackdowns earlier this year.

The 48-year-old was detained by Australian Border Force officials and whisked to a disused air force base on the outskirts of Canberra before being taken to Supermax.

His visa has been cancelled on character grounds by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.

His legal team has since launched a Federal Court bid to overturn the visa cancellation – the next hearing in that case is next Friday.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/national/tasmania/former-rebels-boss-aj-graham-pleads-for-prison-time-in-tasmania/story-fnn32rbc-1227563933219