A former member of the Rebels Motorcycle Club has been fined $70 in the ACT Magistrates Court for not wearing a helmet while riding his pushbike, but a drug charge was dismissed.
Alfio Licciardello, who is banned from driving, was cycling through Lyneham on his way to the Rebels' Mitchell clubhouse on a Sunday morning in March last year when police stopped him.
Yesterday, the court heard that Constable Alexei Chapman noticed the 46-year-old disability pensioner had a pocketknife in a pouch on his waist and decided to search the man to see if he was carrying additional knives.
The search revealed 0.644g of methamphetamine tucked into a cigarette packet, both of which Licciardello denied owning.
But Magistrate Grant Lalor ruled that the search was illegal and dismissed the charge of possessing a drug of dependence.
He said police had the power to search someone who they suspected was carrying a knife but had to announce they were police and give a reason for conducting the search.
Licciardello was convicted and fined $150 for carrying the knife and $70 for riding without a helmet.
For more on this story, see today's Canberra Times.
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