A Rebels bikie enforcer planned "a bit of Canberra love" when he bashed a rival gang member and robbed him of his colours outside a Belconnen shopping mall.
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But Fakatounaulupe Ngata, 37, has told a Canberra court that he has since retired from the gang and wants to live a "straighty 180 life".
Ngata appeared for sentence in the ACT Supreme Court after he last month pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery over the attack on October 4 last year.
Vision from the mall's CCTV system appears to show Ngata and two others confront two men in motorcycle clothing at an entrance to Belconnen Mall about 6pm.
He then assaulted and stripped one of the rival gang members of a T-shirt emblazoned with the word FINKS.
The theft of the T-shirt constitutes aggravated robbery as Ngata was in company and used force.
The court heard on Thursday that Ngata had been the gang's Canberra sergeant-at-arms for several years.
Ngata – who has been in custody for about a year – told the court he had returned his colours to the Rebels Outlaw Motorcycle Club in March.
He said he had severed links with the gang and had no intention of returning.
Ngata told Justice Richard Refshauge that his focus in jail had been to keep fit and deal with his mental issues.
He said he had completed a business course and had enrolled for an anger management program.
"I've retired from my criminal activities," Ngata said.
He said he now wanted to live a "straighty 180 life" and be there for his family.
Prosecutor Mark Fernandez described the offence as "breathtakingly shameless" as it had been planned, in public, and in front of security cameras.
He said it had been a "turf issue" and a rapid response to dole out "summary justice" to a rival gang for intruding on Rebels territory without permission.
Defence lawyer Soraya Saikal admitted the attack had been targeted and in a public place, but argued that members of the community had not been put at risk and the motivation had not been random or about money.
"What was taken was very specific," she said.
Ms Saikal said her client's acceptance of responsibility and exit from gang life showed he had good prospects of rehabilitation.
The court heard his criminal history included three convictions for violence and a number of disqualified driving charges.
Justice Refshauge will hand down his sentence next week.
Rebels members Kirk James Newman, 28, and Dean Reid, 27, are accused of being the other two men in the footage.
They have both pleaded not guilty to aggravated robbery and will stand trial next year.
