Bikie drug ‘bedlam’

AN alleged bikie caught in a drug deal gone bad sparked “bedlam” when he stabbed a man in the arm in the middle of a busy Gold Coast shopping centre carpark.

Tayne Riley Clarkson stabbed Philip Gwillim after the car Gwillim was in rammed Clarkson’s van in a Coomera shopping centre carpark about 3.30pm on March 23, 2019.

The incident was all part of a drug deal gone wrong between a group of men known to each other.

Clarkson, now 21, was in the van with Ryan Michael Warburton, the alleged Gold Coast Bandidos sergeantat-arms, who watched Bronson “Lizard Man” Ellery kill himself after he murdered his ex-girlfriend.

Clarkson had allegedly become a Bandido about two months before the incident.

He pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court on Monday to unlawful wounding, going armed to cause fear and breaching bail.

The incident started when Clarkson and Warburton agreed to meet Gwillim, Joshua Munn and another man in the carpark for a drug deal.

Clarkson and Gwillim instead threatened the group and Munn, who was at the wheel, drove off before doing a U-turn and ramming Clarkson and Warburton’s car.

Clarkson then confronted Gwillim as he was getting out of the car, trying to stab him in the stomach.

Warburton broke an ankle in the incident.

Judge Geraldine Dann sentenced Clarkson to two years’ prison with immediate release on parole.

He has already served seven months in pre-sentence custody.

“The conduct you engaged in, in the carpark, was frightening and lawless – not just to the victim but people who were going about their business and witnessed what your counsel described as ‘bedlam’,” she said.

“Young men who commit such acts make our community more frightened. Using a knife is a very significant and serious aspect of the offending and I urge you not to take a knife out with you in the future.”

The court was told that in June last year Clarkson was sentenced to seven months’ prison after being caught with drugs in New South Wales. He was returned to prison Queensland in November after serving four months of his sentence.

Tayne Clarkson; (Inset) the carpark incident. Picture: Mel Regan.

Defence barrister Marty Longhurst, instructed by Gatenby Criminal Lawyers, said the incident “must have been madness for any member of the community” to watch a car being rammed and then someone stabbed.

“(It) only makes sense in context of drug abuse, the drug scene and a drug deal going on,” he said.

Mr Longhurst said Clarkson had a difficult upbringing and had been

used as a “pawn” in a custody battle between his parents.

He said Clarkson turned to drugs as a teenager and became involved in the drug scene.

“It is the typical spiral but he is 21 and my submission is he is not a writeoff,” he said.

Mr Longhurst said Clarkson was still young.