STUFF/STUFF
Police raid the Hells Angels Central clubhouse in Palmerston North in 2020 as part of Operation Buckle.
Two Hells Angels members may know by Tuesday night whether or not they are guilty of involvement in a large methamphetamine ring run by another Angel.
Attorneys for Andrew Sisson and Scott James Allan spent Monday explaining to a jury in Palmerston North District Court why the couple should be cleared of the Operation Buckle charges.
Buckle focused on Daron Ian Charles Gilmore, a member of the Hells Angels Central chapter who distributed methamphetamine in Manawatū in 2020.
He has already pleaded guilty to various charges.
CONTINUE READING:
* Mother-turned-Hells Angel says meth-making equipment was left on former gang’s property
* Senior Hells Angel says he made his money off lumber and bulldogs, not meth
* Liquids fly out of suspected meth chef’s container, chemicals were found on his property
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 for Gilmore in Bunnythorpe when the Covid-19 lockdown made sourcing the drug difficult.
In her closing remarks, prosecutor Deborah Davies said patterns of behavior and text messages showed Sisson was supplying Gilmore.
But Sisson’s attorney, Mark Ryan, said there was another pattern to look at — the lack of evidence proving Sisson was dealing drugs.
Police found no paraphernalia — including scales, bags, tick lists and stacks of cash — when they searched Sisson’s home.
Nor could they show where Sisson would have gotten meth if he had been supplying Gilmore.
Denise Piper/stuff
Cordelia Waetford, Northland District Health Board meth clinician, explains how methamphetamine is addictive and how treatment helps. (Video first published in January 2020).
Sisson and Gilmore met twice in Auckland but it was done to drop off a sidecar and get Hells Angels gear back.
Additionally, text messages Gilmore sent prior to visiting Sisson — police found him with $130,000 in cash in his car during the trip — indicated he was taking the money to someone else, Ryan said.
“Straws and the Holding of Straws.”
Ryan urged the jury to be mindful of the adverse effects of Sisson being a member of the Hells Angels and meth at the center of the case.
“Each of you will know someone, have read something, or have a family member involved with methamphetamine.
“You must put that aside.”
Allan’s attorney, John Anderson, said his client pleaded guilty to a number of charges, including precursors, equipment and other ingredients needed to make meth.
But he didn’t get those items in time to cook meth in mid-April when the crown says he did, Anderson said.
Allan told the trial that the equipment turned up in a container with items previously owned by the Mothers Motorcycle Club, which he was a member of before the Hells Angels.
Anderson said it’s important to note that Gilmore frantically briefed various people about the need for produce, but didn’t bother Allan, the alleged chef.
If Allan wasn’t doing the cooking in mid-April, it could be said he wasn’t part of a conspiracy to supply the drug to Gilmore, Anderson said.
Judge Bruce Northwood will summarize the case for the jury Tuesday morning before sending them to deliberate their verdicts.
