Bunnings trip costs $1000 fine for bikie in Balcatta after revealing Rebels gang tattoo under mullet

A quick trip to a Bunnings Warehouse has cost a member of the Rebels motorcycle gang more than $1,000 under new anti-bikie laws.

The once close friend of slain Rebels boss Nick Martin, Joseph Raimondi, was ordered to pay the steep fine on Wednesday for showing his ‘Rebels’ tattoo while in the hardware chain’s Balcatta store at north Perth in July, 2022.

He pleaded guilty to one count of defying West Australia’s anti-bikie laws in Perth Magistrate’s Court after two other counts were dropped by prosecutors.

He was fined $1,000 and ordered to pay an extra $260 in court fees. 

West Australia’s tough anti-bikie laws introduced in December, 2021, make it illegal for any gang sign or insignia to be shown in public including patches, jewellery and tattoos.

‘Gang members identify themselves as such by wearing and displaying symbols and insignia to intimidate and create fear within the community,’ State Crime Commander, Gordon Fairman, told Daily Mail Australia.

The 34-year-old’s lawyer, Michael Tudori, claimed that Raimondi had just run into Bunnings without thinking and it had not been as if he had ‘ripped off his shirt’ to flaunt his tattoos to customers.

In CCTV footage obtained by WA Police, the heavily tattooed Raimondi is shown to be holding a tub and a spatula with his tattoo clearly visible on the left side of his head.

Mr Tudori claims that Raimondi has since grown out his hair and applies ‘a little make up’ to cover up the tattoo.

During sentencing, Magistrate Felicity Zempilas had accepted that Raimondi’s actions were not malicious.

However she stood by the legislation, saying that it was introduced to stop gang members displaying the insignia in public places as it intimidated some members of the public and must be be followed up with a penalty.

‘Since the introduction of the legislation, the WA Police Force has preferred more than 60 charges relating to the display of jewellery, clothing and tattoos bearing gang insignia,’ Mr Fairman said.

 Raimondi will appear at Perth’s Magistrates Court two more times for allegedly not covering up the head tattoo in separate incidents to the one at a Bunnings warehouse

As of January 24, 35 of these charges have resulted in conviction, while the other matters are progressing through the courts.

The father-of-two will appear in Perth’s Magistrate Court twice more over the coming week in relation to two more charges related to the alleged display of the prominent tattoo.

One of the charges refers to a photograph that was published on the front page of The West Australian, with his tattoo in clear view, while he consoled mourners at the scene of a bikie enforcer’s shooting in Gnangara in September.

The other charge is for allegedly not covering up his tattoo while at the Crown Casino in Burswood in June last year.

Raimondi is also facing other charges including stealing a motor vehicle and possessing prescription medicine, drug paraphernalia and ammunition.