Gangs 'free to wear patches again'

A lawyer for the Hells Angels gang says a court decision means gang members can display their patches again in Whanganui.
The gang had asked the High Court to revoke a local bylaw forbidding anyone from showing symbols of membership or support for a gang in public.
It argued that the law requires such a bylaw to pinpoint a specific place but Whanganui's ban encompasses the whole city and beyond and should therefore be revoked.
Justice Clifford upheld the complaint, saying the bylaw falls outside the intention of the Prohibition of Gang Insignia Act.
Hells Angels lawyer Steven Rollo says this means that gang members can freely wear their gear in public once more.
Whanganui Mayor Annette Main says the council will now consider going to the Court of Appeal.

The High Court has ruled Whanganui District Council's gang patch ban is unlawful.
The Hells Angels gang sought a judicial review of the ban, arguing the bylaw - banning the wearing of gang insignia in public in Whanganui - was invalid.

Justice Denis Clifford, in a judgment released today, said he had reached the same conclusion.
The bylaw did not specify which public places the ban applied, and was therefore invalid under national law, he said.

It was, in some circumstances, justifiable to limit freedom of expression but in this case the bylaw was invalid because the council had not considered the significance of limiting the gangs' right to express themselves, relative to the effect of the bylaw, Justice Clifford said.

However, he said a bylaw which more closely defined specified places could well be legal.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10709990

The Whangarei District Council will meet police to explore banning gang patches from the central city.
Whangarei police area commander Inspector Paul Dimery says Northland is seen as a "cash cow" by gangs, particularly through the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10708531

The High Court has found Wanganui District Council acted unlawfully in two areas of its ban on the display of gang insignia.

In August 2009 the council passed a bylaw under the Wanganui Act banning the display of gang insignia in all public places throughout the wider Wanganui urban area, and in other nearby locations.

Phillip Schubert, a member of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang, challenged the legality of the bylaw. Schubert said the council did not act lawfully because the bylaw covers such a wide area.

The High Court has found the council was in error in banning the display of gang insignia in all public places throughout the district. It said this is contrary to parliament's intentions in the Wanganui Act, which permits the council to ban the display of gang insignia in specified, but not all, public places.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/high-court-backs-gang-member-over-insignia-4045100