The Outlaws: We won’t attack Bulldog Bash

The Outlaws Motorcycle Club has vowed not to attack the Hells Angels’ Bulldog Bash despite a police bid to halt the rally over gang violence fears.

The Outlaws’ Europe-wide head, known as Dink, said: “I can say officially there is no threat to the Bulldog Bash or any other bike event from the Outlaws.

“Any motorcycle organisation that’s putting on a show, the Outlaws wish them well and good luck in their licence application. We’ve got our own shows and we’d just like to be left to them.”

Police plan to clamp down on the Bulldog Bash on August 6-9 at Long Marston Airfield in Warwickshire by closing roads and searching riders heading there.

Warwickshire Police has already failed in a bid to have the event’s licence repealed by Stratford District Council. The force claims there is a threat to public safety from possible violence between the Hells Angels and Outlaws.

It follows a mass brawl between Hells Angels and Outlaws at Birmingham International Airport last January and the shooting dead of Hells Angel Gerry Tobin by Outlaws as he returned from the 2007 Bulldog Bash.

Assistant Chief Constable Bill Holland has named the clubs organised crime gangs, a claim both groups deny.

Dink said: “All we are is a motorcycle club. We go on regular runs. I can’t defend all my members. Some have done things outside the law. We don’t condone it but they’ve been duly punished for it.”

Asked if there was a feud between the Outlaws and Hells Angels, Dink said: “It depends on which way you look at it. I don’t think there is. Some people do obviously but a lot of these people write books so they’re making money out of it.
“We are not interested in feuds,” he added. “We’re only interested in what we’re doing, not what other people are doing.

“The police stopped our Ink and Iron Show last year and said the Hells Angels were going to wreck it, so all they’re doing is playing one off the other to make their job easier.”

Holland said: “Following the murder of Gerry Tobin on the M40 in 2007 as he rode home from Bulldog Bash, the riot at Birmingham Airport last year, and a series of violent incidents abroad, you will be aware that I tried to have the licence removed from Bulldog Bash.

“Having been unsuccessful in this, Warwickshire Police is going to carry out an operation broadly similar to last year with a view to protecting people from harm for the duration of the event.

“This is not to say that all those attending are criminals – the vast majority are decent people out to enjoy themselves. But there is a small criminal minority, and it is against these that the police operation will be targeted.

“The operation will involve some road closures, as we funnel traffic through check points. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but I have been in close consultation with local residents this year in order to minimise disruption to their daily lives.”

The force plans to close the following roads throughout the rally:

• Preston Fields Lane, Clifford Chambers, from its junction with the B4632 Campden Road to its junction with the C104 Milcote Road. An alternative route will be available via the B4632 Campden Road and C104 Milcote Road.

• C47 Station Road, Long Marston, from its junction with the B4632 Campden Road to its junction with C46 Mickleton Road. An alternative route will be available via the B4632 Campden Road and C46 Mickleton Road.

• E6993 Middle Barn Lane, Atherstone-on-Stour, from its junction with B4632 Campden Road to Jubilee Cottages (a distance of approximately 1100 metres). An alternative route will be available via the B4632 Campden Road, A3400 Shipston Road and D6511 Atherstone Road.

• Back Lane, Lower Quinton, from its junction with B4632 Campden Road to the village boundary

• C47 Quinton Road, Lower Quinton, from its junction with B4632 Campden Road to its junction with Stilemans Close

• Tailors Lane, Upper Quinton, from its junction with B4632 Campden Road to its junction with Edmunds Close. Alternative routes into Lower Quinton and Upper Quinton will be via B4632 Campden Road, C117 Hidcote Road, C49 Clopton Lane to Mickleton and B4632 Campden Road.