A lifetime member of an outlaw motorcycle gang has been allowed to keep his gun licence to work as a security guard, on the condition he does not associate with any bikies.
Lawyers for the NSW Police Force argued that George Muratore, 60, was not fit to hold the licence, which permits him to have pistols, shotguns and rifles, because of his long connection with the Lone Wolf gang.
Mr Muratore, who lives in Dural, northwest of Sydney, admitted he wore the gang’s 20-year member patch with the letters EGF, which stand for “everyone get f..ked”, but resigned from the club in the middle of last year.
He filed an appeal in the courts after police revoked his security guard and gun permits in May.
In a decision released yesterday, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled “it is in the public interest” to allow Mr Muratore to hold his licences.
“The tribunal finds that based on the applicant’s conduct (including a lack of any criminal record, long history as licence holder with no discernible breaches notwithstanding his private associations) that the decisions of the (Commissioner of the NSW Police Force) should be set aside and the applicant’s applications granted,” senior tribunal member John McAteer said.
“On the assessment of all of the evidence before the tribunal, the applicant is a fit and proper person to hold, and it is in the public interest to grant or reinstate the applicant’s … security licence.”
In a hearing in September, Mr Muratore, who ran a security business called Elite Guard Force until 2009, said he joined the gang in 1977 but his role was limited to organising rides. He said he was no longer involved because of his age, and resigned in September.
He refused, however, to answer questions about club rules.
The court found police had known of his association with the Lone Wolf gang since at least 2004 and had not revoked his licence in that time.
In 2006, Mr Muratore’s partner, Karen Brown, was acquitted of fatally shooting a man who had beaten and robbed her of about $45,000. Ms Brown shot William Frank Aquilina, 25, while he sat in his car after the brutal robbery.
A jury found her not guilty of murder and manslaughter. She attended last year’s hearing with Mr Muratore.
Mr McAteer ruled that: “Both licences … are to be reinstated, but on the conditions that the applicant not associate with any current members of (outlaw gangs).”
