Read Online Outlaws: Inside the Violent World of Biker Gangs by Tony Thompson - Free Book Online
Authors: Tony Thompson
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the time only the Hell’s Angels were truly international. Across the world, the majority of clubs tended to be small and independent like the Warwickshire Pagans. Apart from the name, though, the two clubs had little in common. The American Pagan’s were at war with the Hell’s Angels while the Brits regularly partied with them. There were also rumours that their namesakes were involved in the drug trade and worked hand in hand with the New Jersey mafia. ‘They’re just thugs,’ said Dozer during one conversation. ‘I’ve heard they don’t even have motorbikes. They’re just a gang.’
Indeed, while most MCs wear a bottom rocker to show their territory, Dozer had discovered that the Pagan’s chose not to, as a way of making it more difficult for the police to work out where they came from. The general consensus was that no one wanted to get involved with anything likethat, even in a crisis. And happily, at the last minute, a club associate living in a tower block in Deptford, south London, offered to put Boone up for a few days.
Boone headed to the capital and attempted to keep a low profile, telling only a few close friends where he was hiding out. Since his mate wasn’t due home until later, Boone headed to a nearby pub and had a couple of drinks to calm himself down. As he stood by the bar, a large, heavy-set man approached and seemed to stumble just as he arrived at the spot next to Boone. The man threw out a hand to steady himself, his open palm grazing down the line of Boone’s back as he did so. To most people it might have seemed like a simple accident but Boone immediately knew what was going on: the man was feeling to see if he was wearing patches underneath his jacket.
As Boone looked over, the man turned slightly, showing the back of his own leather jacket. Just the sight of the centre logo was enough: a large brown rodent baring its teeth and looking ready to pounce. The man was a member of the Road Rats MC, arguably the oldest, toughest and most ruthless biker club in the country.
The Rats started out as a street gang in the early 1960s before evolving into a full-blown MC. The club established its fierce reputation in October 1970 – a year after the London Angels first received their charter. The Rats had been offered the chance to patch over and become Angels themselves but declined. After months of increasing tension and a number of small skirmishes, the two groups met up at Chelsea Bridge in Central London (a popular biker hangout since the 1950s) to decide which MC would have overall control of the capital.
Paul Luttman, the twenty-year-old president of the Road Rats and Peter Howson, the twenty-one-year-old leader of the Angels approached each other from opposite sides of the bridge in a scene that would later be described as looking like something out of High Noon .
When they were six feet apart, Luttman pulled a sawn-off shotgun out of the folds of his jacket and fired. Howson was hit in the stomach by more than 150 pellets, blowing him backwards through the air and ripping his guts to shreds.
Pandemonium broke out. The remaining Angels and the Rats flew at one another and dozens more bikers were injured in the vicious fighting that followed. The Angels came off far worse and to add to their humiliation, two visiting members from the newly appointed Zurich chapter had their patches taken during the melee. The Swiss complained directly to Sonny Barger who immediately despatched two of his top men to London to see whether the group’s charter should be withdrawn on the grounds that they were unable to control their territory.
The London Angels were allowed to continue only after, under the direction of their visitors from California, they made two valiant attempts to retrieve the patches, which were by then hanging upside down behind the bar of the Road Rats clubhouse. Shots were fired on both occasions but no one was hit. During one attack, one of the Angels was kidnapped and
Indeed, while most MCs wear a bottom rocker to show their territory, Dozer had discovered that the Pagan’s chose not to, as a way of making it more difficult for the police to work out where they came from. The general consensus was that no one wanted to get involved with anything likethat, even in a crisis. And happily, at the last minute, a club associate living in a tower block in Deptford, south London, offered to put Boone up for a few days.
Boone headed to the capital and attempted to keep a low profile, telling only a few close friends where he was hiding out. Since his mate wasn’t due home until later, Boone headed to a nearby pub and had a couple of drinks to calm himself down. As he stood by the bar, a large, heavy-set man approached and seemed to stumble just as he arrived at the spot next to Boone. The man threw out a hand to steady himself, his open palm grazing down the line of Boone’s back as he did so. To most people it might have seemed like a simple accident but Boone immediately knew what was going on: the man was feeling to see if he was wearing patches underneath his jacket.
As Boone looked over, the man turned slightly, showing the back of his own leather jacket. Just the sight of the centre logo was enough: a large brown rodent baring its teeth and looking ready to pounce. The man was a member of the Road Rats MC, arguably the oldest, toughest and most ruthless biker club in the country.
The Rats started out as a street gang in the early 1960s before evolving into a full-blown MC. The club established its fierce reputation in October 1970 – a year after the London Angels first received their charter. The Rats had been offered the chance to patch over and become Angels themselves but declined. After months of increasing tension and a number of small skirmishes, the two groups met up at Chelsea Bridge in Central London (a popular biker hangout since the 1950s) to decide which MC would have overall control of the capital.
Paul Luttman, the twenty-year-old president of the Road Rats and Peter Howson, the twenty-one-year-old leader of the Angels approached each other from opposite sides of the bridge in a scene that would later be described as looking like something out of High Noon .
When they were six feet apart, Luttman pulled a sawn-off shotgun out of the folds of his jacket and fired. Howson was hit in the stomach by more than 150 pellets, blowing him backwards through the air and ripping his guts to shreds.
Pandemonium broke out. The remaining Angels and the Rats flew at one another and dozens more bikers were injured in the vicious fighting that followed. The Angels came off far worse and to add to their humiliation, two visiting members from the newly appointed Zurich chapter had their patches taken during the melee. The Swiss complained directly to Sonny Barger who immediately despatched two of his top men to London to see whether the group’s charter should be withdrawn on the grounds that they were unable to control their territory.
The London Angels were allowed to continue only after, under the direction of their visitors from California, they made two valiant attempts to retrieve the patches, which were by then hanging upside down behind the bar of the Road Rats clubhouse. Shots were fired on both occasions but no one was hit. During one attack, one of the Angels was kidnapped and
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