Inside secret world of bikie gang women who are club ‘property’ of less value than their bikes
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Bikie women are considered “property” of the club and have even less status than motorcycles in the twisted world of outlaw biker gangs.
The secret life of motorcycle women and the absurd rules they must follow has been revealed in a police file.
It details how gang laws dictate the hierarchy of women who “belong” to a club or individual bike, as well as the increased risk of violence and assault they face.
In a horror case, the wife of a motorcyclist in Western Australia forcibly had her stomach tattooed to show she was her husband’s “property”.
Wearing a ‘Property of’ patch is more common among motorcyclists in the US (above), but also occurs in Australia, where women declare they belong to their husband or his club
Rules for women who, in relationships with biker gang members, dictate that they themselves should never be members and score lower than the club, the men, and their bikes
Police photo of the tattoo Coffin Cheater gang member Mark Hinchcliffe forcibly tattooed on his ex-wife Jacqueline Margaret Neville after she had an affair with another man
While modern biker women often look glamorous in their designer clothes, the reality is that they are treated as second class citizens who cannot really join the clubs or take part in social evenings and ‘runs’.
The rules for women in Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMCGs) are part of a dossier filed with the NSW Supreme Court during a police application for Comanchero national boss Allan Meehan – known for the ‘Bathrobe bikie’ – to be placed under a serious crime.
Detective Sergeant Bruce Groenewegen – a senior detective who has studied the rules for female motorcycle gangs in Australia and beyond – argues in the court file how women are ‘generally regarded as subservient to the organisation, membership and motorcycles’.
“Bikies rank the club…members and their bicycles for women in order of importance,” he said.
Detective Groenewegen said bikers in Australia sometimes wear a club vest or jacket with “Property of” and the name of their biker or their biker gang, although the practice is more common in the US.
The grim statistics are that women in relationships with biker gang members are 640 percent more likely to experience domestic and family violence, including 428 percent more incidents.
The female partner of a motorcycle gang member from Mongolia in the US wears a ‘Property of’ decal during a run through the city with bicycles belonging to the OMCG
The motorcycle gang file with rules for members’ female partners that exclude them from “running” (above) and rate them lower than motorcycles
Jesse Vella hugs a woman at his father Gino’s funeral in January, just months before switching to the Comanchero gang led by another former rebel, Allan Meehan
One particularly gruesome case involved Western Australia Coffin Cheater bikie Mark Raymond Hinchliffe after finding out his wife Jacqueline Margaret Neville was having an affair with another man.
Hinchcliffe hit her with a Coffin Cheaters belt, shaved her head and poured boiling water over her, then forcibly tattooed her stomach with the words “Property of Mark Hinchcliffe.”
Neville eventually shot and killed her lover and served 15 years in prison.
“A woman who has a relationship with a member is ‘off limits’ to anyone else in the club until the relationship ends,” said Det Sergeant Groenewegen.
“Many OMCG consider a relationship with another member’s wife an offense as serious as disrespect for the club’s three-piece patch.”
Det Sgt Groenewegen said that in many clubs getting involved with a gang member’s wife was equivalent to stealing and punishable by serious assault.
“In the Bandidos, for example, the rules provide for a member’s right to dictate a certain period of time within which a woman with whom he previously had a relationship may return to the clubhouse, or within which other members may express her affection.”
Women dressed in black attend Gino Vella’s funeral in western Sydney early this year after the senior rebel died unexpectedly, saying goodbye at one of the largest cycling rallies in recent memory
Under Bandidos rules, it is a biker’s right to determine how long his ex-girlfriend may be banned from the clubhouse and/or declared “off limits” to other members after the relationship has ended.
Other OMCG specifically refer to excluding women from membership or access to information about the organization. Hells Angels rules refer specifically to men who are members.”
The rebel gang’s constitution specifically excludes women from social evenings and “runs,” the organized mass display of force on bicycles during an annual ride that is mandatory unless you’re in hospital or prison and punishable if you don’t.
Det Sgt Groenewegen quoted a rulebook from the rebels’ Mt Druitt chapter that warned nominees not to “mess around with other members’ wives” at the risk of “being seriously dealt with.”
The rebel gang’s constitution specifically excludes women from “runs,” the organized mass display of force on bicycles during an annual ride that is mandatory unless you’re in hospital or prison.
A biker gang in Australia tells prospective members to “keep your wives in line,” but warns against “inappropriate harassment of other brothers, wives” and advises “look but don’t touch.”
Several biker gangs (particularly members of five of Australia’s largest clubs) have constitutions that prohibit women from joining or wearing club patches
The Lone Wolf rules for nominees tell potential members to “keep your wives in line,” but warn against “improper harassment of other brothers, wives,” and advise “look but don’t touch.”
The Lone Wolf prohibits women from riding with the club or carrying members as pillion passengers on motorcycles.
Women are not allowed to wear the three-piece club patch, or the “1%” outlaw patch often seen on bikers’ vests or jackets.
And women ‘are often victims of violence by members of OMCG’s and that violence is often not reported to the police’.
There is also a hierarchy among the cycling women, with an Old Lady – a woman – at the top.
Incidents of violence against women by bikers mentioned by Groenewegen usually take place between gang members and their partners or ex-partners, but a historic sexual assault at a gang clubhouse involved a woman and bikers she had never met.
On July 25, 1997, an 18-year-old went with friends from a hotel in Coffs Harbor back to the Finks Coffs Harbor Chapter clubhouse for a party, where they played pool and drank alcohol.
On July 25, 1997, an 18-year-old went with friends from a Coffs Harbor hotel back to the Finks Coffs Harbor Chapter clubhouse for a party and was sexually assaulted by two unknown men.
When her friends left she stayed and played pool before going to the bathroom where a man, ‘Scotty’ grabbed her by the hair and pulled her off the toilet and forced her to have oral sex with him.
As this was happening, Scotty’s girlfriend yelled from outside for him to stop, saying she was going to “kill” the teenage girl.
The 18-year-old was then lured to another part of the clubhouse where another motorcyclist, ‘Ray’, forcibly removed her jeans and underwear and forced her to have sex, struggling and suffering large bruises.
She woke up dazed around 4 a.m. and then, possibly drugged, fell unconscious again until the morning when Ray dropped her off at a local mall.
In the following days, she received harassing phone calls suggesting that she had been “gangbanged” by multiple men and that photos had been taken.
The girl saw a doctor and a counselor for assault, but refused to report it to the police and no one was charged with the assaults.