Hells Angels await verdicts

Two Hells Angels members may know by tonight if they are guilty or not of being involved in a large methamphetamine ring run by a fellow gang member.

Lawyers for Andrew Sisson and Scott James Allan spent yesterday telling a jury in the Palmerston North District Court why the pair should be acquitted on charges stemming from Operation Buckle.

Buckle focused on Daron Ian Charles Gilmore, a Hells Angels Central chapter member who distributed methamphetamine in Manawatū in 2020.

He has already pleaded guilty to various charges.

Allan and Sisson are accused of being Gilmore’s suppliers, albeit in different ways.

Sisson was allegedly Gilmore’s Auckland-based wholesale supplier, while Allan is accused of cooking meth in Bunnythorpe for Gilmore when the Covid-19 lockdown made sourcing the drug difficult.

In her closing address, Crown prosecutor Deborah Davies said patterns of behaviour and text messages showed Sisson was supplying Gilmore.

But Sisson’s lawyer, Mark Ryan, said there was a different pattern to look at – the lack of evidence proving Sisson dealt drugs.

Police found no dealing paraphernalia – scales, bags, tick lists and stacks of cash, for example – after searching Sisson’s home.

They were also unable to show where Sisson would have got meth from if he was supplying Gilmore.

Sisson and Gilmore did meet up in Auckland twice, but it was done to drop off a sidecar and get Hells Angels gear returned.

Furthermore, text messages Gilmore sent before one visit to Sisson – police found him with $130,000 cash in his car during the trip – indicated he was going to take the cash to someone else, Ryan said.

‘‘Straws and the clutching thereof.’’

Ryan urged the jury to be careful of the prejudicial impact of Sisson being a Hells Angels member and meth being at the centre of the case. ‘‘Every one of you will know someone, have read something or have a family member involved with methamphetamine.

‘‘You must put that to one side.’’

Allan’s lawyer, John Anderson, said his client had pleaded guilty to some charges, including having precursors, equipment and other ingredients required to make meth.

But he did not get those items in time to cook meth in mid-April, when the Crown said he did, Anderson said.

Allan told the trial the gear turned up in a shipping container of items previously belonging to the Mothers Motorcycle Club, which he was a member of before the Hells Angels.

Anderson said it was important to note Gilmore was frantically messaging various people about needing product, but not hassling Allan the alleged cook.

If Allan did not do the cook in mid-April, it could be said he was not part of any conspiracy to supply the drug with Gilmore, Anderson said.

Judge Bruce Northwood was to sum up the case for the jury today before sending them off to deliberate on the verdicts.