OFF THE WIRE
Bikers are terrorising Australia's Sydney
SKY NEWS
SKY NEWS
Rival biker gangs are terrorising Sydney, with innocent bystanders increasingly getting caught up in the gun violence.
The gangs have been part of Australia's history for decades but recently violence between clubs has escalated, reports Sky News.
Acting assistant police commissioner Mal Lanyon told Sky News: "We classify these groups as criminal organisations.
"There are a range of issues which come into play, the patching over or the movement of one member of a group to another group, competition over drug turf and individual differences between members."
This year there have been more than 60 shootings on Sydney's streets which were related to biker gang violence.
Recently, a two-month-old baby narrowly escaped being killed after the house where she was sleeping was peppered with bullets in a drive-by shooting.
The police in the state of New South Wales have stepped up the number of raids on homes and businesses which they believe are connected to the gang violence.
New legislation is also being brought in to clamp down on the activities of the biker gangs.
Laws have been rushed through to stop bikers wearing their insignia, or "colours", in Kings Cross, the red light district of Sydney.
Wearing badges on their jackets is part of the bikers' culture and this has been seen as a major insult by the gangs.
One biker, who gave his name only as "Zac" says not all bikers are criminals.
"There might be a few bad apples in the bunch but we are not all bad," he said.
"We are not animals, we are safe people, we are just like every normal person. We have wives and kids and family as well".
The police, however, believe the bikers are increasingly recruiting impressionable youngsters to carry out the violence for them.
Many of them are associates of the gangs and do not even ride motorbikes.
As a teenager George Basha became involved in a gang. He has now turned his back on that lifestyle but says it is far too easy for young men to get sucked in.
"I've done some bad things, I've seen people stabbed and people shot. I've seen it all," he told Sky News.
"I think it's the bigger boys that are pushing the young kids. It's like they are their slaves and they are probably paying them nothing to do it. Promising them the world, to be the next big thing, but they're not living long enough to see it."
It is not just Sydney being affected, with related biker gang violence in the states of South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland.
In the past, biker disagreements were settled in secret.
Now their feud has become increasingly public with innocent Australians caught in the crossfire.
