HELLS Angels have long been considered harmless eccentrics in Britain – but there are armed killers and drug dealers among the thousands of members in this country.
Recent attacks have brought to light the brutal turf wars between rival motorcycle gangs, with a near-deadly knife attack and a murder in recent years.
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Last month, three Hells Angels bikers from the Watford area were arrested for attacking members of the Vikings Motorcycle Club in October 2022.
Callum Shaw, 27, was sentenced to 17 years in prison after admitting grievous bodily harm and violent disorder.
He chased a Viking in West Sussex and stabbed him before friends Barry Brown, 41, and Daniel Kent, 28, kicked, stamped and hit the defenseless man with a bat.
Brown and Kent were each jailed for three years for the attack.
The court heard it was revenge for the theft of Hells Angels jackets from a petrol station earlier in the day.
In the past, mobsters riding Harley Davidsons have been caught with rocket launchers and linked to international drug trafficking operations.
This is at odds with the image they often try to present of being charity fundraising motorcycle enthusiasts.
Author Tony Thompson, who investigated the British biker scene, told The Sun: “There have been a few cases in recent decades where murders have occurred.
“There is hand-to-hand combat and weapons, but a lot of it is really brutal stabbings and beatings. They’re not afraid to hurt people.”
In May 2022, three motorcyclists from the Bandidos clan in Plymouth, Devon, drove a van into 59-year-old David Crawford on the city’s A38.
They dragged his body under the vehicle for nearly a kilometer, killing him.
Crawford was a member of the Red Chiefs in Cornwall, affiliated with the Hells Angels, and the trio were offended that he had crossed over into their “territory.”
Benjamin Parry, 43, who was driving the van, was jailed for 15 years for manslaughter, while Thomas Pawley, 33, and Chad Brading, 37, received four-year prison sentences for the same offence.
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Jay Dobyns, a retired American undercover federal agent from the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) infiltrated the American Hells Angels for three years and was instrumental in the arrest of 50 members.
“The Hells Angels have a doctorate in violence and intimidation,” he told The Sun.
“They have lived for around 75 years, made a name for themselves and established themselves through extreme violence.
“They say they are not a criminal organization, they admit that they may have criminals within their club… but how many clubs reserve places of honor for when someone is convicted of murder, rape, weapons trafficking, drugs?”
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perpetual state of war
At the heart of the long-running rivalries is the question of whether a biker is a Hells Angel or not.
Members of other motorcycle clubs – such as the Outlaws, Bandidos or Vikings – are in a constant state of war with the Hells Angels.
Tony explains: “In the biker world you have two sides, the Hells Angels and everyone else.
“The Hells Angels think there shouldn’t be any other biker gangs in the world because they think they’re the best.
“All the people who don’t want to be Hells Angels think otherwise and don’t think Hells Angels should exist.
“You have this perpetual state of war.”
They are not afraid to hurt people
Tony Thompson
The Hells Angels began in California in 1948 and formed a ‘chapter’ in London in 1969.
International gangs are expected to pay dues to the US, but in return any member can expect to be looked after by fellow Hells Angels anywhere in the world.
Tony says, “You can go to any other chapter in the world and they will give you a place to live, something to eat and a bike to ride. It’s a brotherhood.”
Being a member of a gang does not mean you have to engage in criminal enterprises and many are law-abiding citizens.
But some choose to use their membership in this secret organization in a similar way to mobsters.
Tony, author of Gangs: A Journey into the Heart of the British Underworld, says: “There is some drug dealing, some extortion. They really enjoy their parties, so there are a lot of drugs that go along with that.”
Murder
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Then in 2007, Hells Angel Gerry Tobin was shot in the head on the M40 in Nottinghamshire as he returned from the famous Bulldog Bash biker festival in the West Midlands.
Seven men, four linked to the Outlaws gang, were convicted of her murder the following year.
It doesn’t take much to offend a motorcyclist.
Tony says: “You can’t pat a Hells Angel on the back because you’re insulting their colors. Big mistake.”
The insignia of each gang and chapter are sacred.
If a Hells Angel dies, other gang members will do whatever it takes to make sure the patches on their leather jacket don’t fall into the hands of rivals.
Tony continues: “If you die, they will come to your house and take all your stuff so it won’t be available to anyone else. They will take the patches off your jacket.”
Global Links
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The British Hells Angels can use their links with branches in the Netherlands, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, the USA and Australia to buy and sell cocaine and ecstasy.
In New Zealand, motorcyclists have been linked to a methamphetamine ring and in Australia laws have been introduced to restrict the activities of motorcycle gangs.
Last month it was reported that a German Hells Angel had brought terror to Britons on the Spanish island of Mallorca with a drugs and prostitution ring.
Frank Hanebuth, a 6-foot-tall mountain man, was arrested and accused of beating the owner of a local restaurant as part of an alleged extortion operation.
British motorcyclists are known to have access to great firepower.
In 1998, a police raid on the home of Outcasts sergeant-at-arms Richard Anderton in Dorset found a rocket launcher, an Uzi submachine gun and an AK-47 assault rifle.
He claimed the weapons were just being stored on his property.
In the same year, Hells Angel Ronald Wait took part in a 40-person attack on Outcasts members Malcolm St Clair and David Armstrong in Battersea, south London.
He was jailed for 15 years for planning grievous bodily harm, but was acquitted of murder.
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Omerta
Police investigations into crimes related to motorcyclists have faced difficulties in the face of a “vow of silence”.
Infiltrating these organizations is very difficult because it can take three years to be allowed entry.
Would-be members have to perform mundane tasks like cleaning bikes before being promoted to “prospects.”
Often these potential customers are asked to go to the front lines when there is a conflict with rivals in order to prove their loyalty.
Tony reveals: “Often you will see a potential client being sent first into a fight to prove themselves and they will often get hurt more.”
You have people who were convicted of murder and promoted in the club
Tony Thompson
Once in, you’re in. Even if you are found guilty of a serious crime, you will not be expelled.
But the level of commitment required, which includes giving up family birthdays, means there are only a few thousand Hells Angels in the UK.
Tony points out: “None of these organizations are criminal organizations. There are criminals within the Hells Angels, but no one has ever been expelled for being a criminal.
“You have people who have been convicted of murder and promoted within the club.
“Crime is not the club’s only objective. Apparently it’s a social club for people who like Harley Davidson motorbikes.”
Canadian investigative journalist Julian Sher has been writing about the Hells Angels for 20 years and is the author of Angels of Death and the upcoming Hitman.
He believes that the British police are too soft on the Hells Angels.
“I think what saves the Hells Angels in England is that you have a very indifferent attitude from the public, politicians and even the police, says h.
“I think they seriously underestimated the Hells Angels. I know of almost no other country where the Hells Angels have as much free reign as they do in the UK.”
He points out how they attended the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and met British minister Hazel Blears during the Blair years.
Julian, who is a motorcyclist, says that ordinary motorcyclists “don’t have that history that you saw in England. And you see around the world rapes, murders, drugs. They are bandits. They are organized crime.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
