Road Knights Motorcycle Club
Founded1979
TerritoryInvercargill, Dunedin, Timaru

The Road Knights Motorcycle Club is an outlaw motorcycle club that operates in the South Island of New Zealand with a presence in Invercargill, Dunedin, and Timaru. Since 2012, new chapters have been formed in Thailand, Netherlands and the United States.[1]

Its rivalry with the Mongrel Mob boiled over in June 2008 in Invercargill when the Road Knights' building was burned down and two motorcycles stolen.[2] The motorcycles were later found by police at the local Mongrel Mob headquarters but had been set on fire.[2] Two Mongrel Mob members were charged with the arson.[3]

As of 2009, Road Knights membership in New Zealand was low and former leadership had dispersed, died or gone to jail.[4]

History

The Road Knights Motorcycle Club was founded in 1979.[5]

In the late 1980s, the Road Knights became involved in a war with the Damned which resulted in several violent incidents. The first death occurred in October 1987, when Robert Holvey, a Damned associate, was killed with an axle after a ramming incident outside the Invercargill prison. Three Road Knights members were charged with murder, but the charges were later dismissed.[6]

In January 1988, while many police officers were in Arrowtown investigating the murder of Maureen McKinnel, there was a bomb attack against a Waikiwi bank. This was a diversion for a bombing attack against the Road Knights HQ, which caused only minor damage as some of the gelignite bombs failed to detonate. A gang sniper was believed to have been posted to cover the bombers, and shots were fired at a police car. No one was convicted relating to these incidents.[6]

In 2004, Jarrod Mangels was convicted of the 1987 murder of Maureen McKinnel, which happened before he joined the club.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Chapters". Road Knights. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Gang tensions on knife edge", The Southland Times, 2008-06-19, retrieved 2010-08-02
  3. ↑ "Two Mob members charged over Road Knights fire", Otago Daily Times, 2008-07-09, retrieved 2010-08-02
  4. ↑ "Patch Work", The Timaru Herald, July 31, 2009, retrieved 2013-07-29
  5. ↑ Stokes, Cam. "NZ gang history photos — RK's (Road Knights') 20th anniversary 1999". GangScene. Archived from the original on February 8, 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  6. 1 2 The Southern Beat, Michele Poole, Southland Police Trust, Invercargill 2002 pp. 225-226.
  7. ↑ "Jarrod Allan Mangels". Safe-nz.org.nz. Archived from the original on 2010-05-22. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.