SYDNEY - A Hells Angel bikie charged with torching a Sydney police vehicle may have his bail revoked after Premier Barry criticised the judicial system for granting his release.
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The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions announced yesterday it will review the decision to grant Scott Allen Orrock bail.
The 47-year-old has been charged with threatening to torch the police paddy wagon parked outside his Newtown tattoo parlour about 3am on April 20 and then carrying out that threat.
Police say he made the threat to four police officers at the local police station minutes before the vehicle was set alight.
Mr Orrock was refused bail in Parramatta Bail Court last Sunday but Magistrate Julie Huber granted him bail on Thursday in Sydney's Central Local Court.
Ms Huber noted his alleged threat was based on a premise that the vehicle's presence was a threat to his family's safety.
She acknowledged that his previous convictions did not involve assaults or action taken against police and that he is the sole provider to his wife and two children.
He also supports his father in Newcastle by paying his mortgage.
Mr O'Farrell criticised the decision on Thursday before the DPP yesterday lodged a bail review with the NSW Supreme Court, which will hear the matter on May 4.
``The office has also elected to prosecute the charges faced by Mr Orrock on indictment,'' the DPP said.
After the announcement, Mr O'Farrell said that the bail review would be welcomed by NSW police cracking down on a tit-for-tat bikie war between the Nomads and Hells Angels.
``I'm pleased the DPP has decided to appeal a decision that represented a kick in the guts to our hardworking police,'' Mr O'Farrell said.
He also said that the decision, coupled with Friday's raids on 18 Sydney premises associated with the two gangs, showed police were not deterred.
``Following this morning's police raids, outlaw motorcycle gangs should now understand the state's law enforcement bodies are coming after them,'' the premier said.
Greens MP David Shoebridge condemned Mr O'Farrell for criticising the decision to grant Mr Orrock bail.
``The effective independence of the DPP is now open to question given the premier's unprecedented public intervention in the case,'' Mr Shoebridge said.
