Two Rebels bikies involved in the public bashing of rival gang members at Westfield Belconnen shopping mall are likely to be placed on intensive correction orders, the ACT government's new punishment option that keeps offenders in the community on a strict supervision regime.
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The Rebels bashing of two Finks members occurred in October 2014, after then junior Rebels member Kirk Jacques Newman, 28, noticed the rival members at the Belconnen shopping centre.
He alerted his superiors, prompting the arrival of then eastside chapter president Dean Stephen Reid, 28, and former ACT sergeant-at-arms Fakatounaulupe Ngata, known as Lupe Ngata, 36.
The trio found the Finks motorcycles, and waited between the shopping centre and parking lot for the members to emerge.
CCTV shows the trio waiting outside the centre for more than an hour.
When the Finks bikies emerged, they were told words to the effect of: "Do you know this is Rebels territory?"
The court heard one of the Finks tried to run, but was caught. They were then bashed and stripped of their colours, clothing with the Finks insignia.
Members of the public witnessed the violence.
The victims were left bloodied, but refused to cooperate with police, meaning the extent of their injuries could not be established.
Newman and Reid faced sentencing on Monday in the ACT Supreme Court.
Newman's lawyer Paul Edmonds told the court his client was leaving the club, but had not been able to speak with Rebels members to notify them because of his bail conditions.
"To some extent it is a nicety as to whether he has actually left or is still trying to leave," Mr Edmonds said.
"This is obviously not an organisation that one would simply fill out a form to say 'I resign'," he said.
But prosecutor Anthony Williamson questioned Newman's plans to depart after Newman was seen speaking jovially with ACT Rebels president Ali Bilal and the vice-president during a morning court adjournment on Monday.
Mr Edmonds said his client had been telling the pair it may not be helpful for them to be present in court, and that they had informed him he could consider himself "no longer part of the club".
Newman, the court heard, also had strong support from his family and fiancee, was n full-time employment, and wanted to live a pro-social life for his two-year-old son.
Reid, represented by barrister James Lawton, made similar representations to the court about leaving the club.
His mother gave evidence that her son had told her he no longer wished to be part of the Rebels.
But Mr Williamson again questioned that assertion, as Reid had told the author of a pre-sentence report earlier this month that he was still a member.
"In my submission, it is all too convenient and not plausible that Mr Reid is no longer a member of the Rebels," he said.
The Crown urged the court to send a message to members and prospective members of gangs that they would be dealt with severely if they contemplated deliberate bashings.
Chief Justice Helen Murrell ordered both offenders be assessed for intensive correction orders (ICOs), a new form of sentencing that allows offenders to serve their time in the community, under strict supervision and compliance regimes.
The court heard the drafting of the legislation had created some confusion about whether the pair needed to be formally sentenced before they could be assessed for the ICOs. If they did, the prosecution said bail laws required they be held in custody until the assessments were completed in eight weeks time.
Chief Justice Murrell said that would be a ludicrous outcome.
She instead signalled her intended sentence and then adjourned proceedings until August to allow for the ICO assessments to be conducted.
Reid was denied bail until then, while Newman was allowed to remain on bail.
