Kiwi bikie 'Rebel Rick' farewelled

FAIRFAX

FAREWELL: About 300 bikies attended Richard Roberts' funeral on Monday, remembering the man they called ''Rebel Rick'' as a ''superstar'' of drinking who ''loved the chicks and they loved him''.

Relevant offers

Australia

Gay couple lose child after Kiwi porn link Catalogue of errors put Kiwi in train's way Thief goes straight after finding child porn Floods rage through NSW, Queensland Stolen python gets its own back on thief Rupert Murdoch's mum turns 103 Aussies still searching for lost rocket launchers Queensland flood evacuees wait to return home Abbott says Gillard playing sexism card Melbourne drug house siege ends

Fellow bikies performed a haka chant as the coffin of Rebels motorcycle club life member Richard Roberts was lifted from a motorcycle sidecar at a crematorium in Canberra.

About 300 bikies attended Roberts' funeral on Monday, remembering the man they called ''Rebel Rick'' as a ''superstar'' of drinking who ''loved the chicks and they loved him''.

The 57-year-old New Zealand-born father of three was fatally shot last Tuesday at a suburban Canberra home.

''He was feared by those who didn't know him, but loved by those who did,'' a fellow bikie, known as Pappa, said of Roberts in a eulogy.

Another Rebel said the slain man had ''loved his club and loved to ride''.

''He was a hard worker.''

Roberts was also remembered as a man with a ''heart of gold'' who ''could make you laugh''.

Roberts was a New Zealander who shifted to Australia in 1973. He had strong Maori connections.

Engelbert Humperdinck's cover version of Frank Sinatra's My Way, with the poignant lyrics ''Regrets? I've a had few'', was played after the eulogies.

Bikies from Rebels chapters as far away as southeastern Victoria, the NSW central coast, Gundagai and Sydney attended the funeral.

Earlier, a procession of more than 300 bikies and an empty hearse moved through the northern suburbs of Canberra from a Rebels clubhouse in Queanbeyan to the Norwood Park Crematorium under police escort.

The coffin containing Roberts' body was carried on a sidecar.

A police car stood by as the bikies, most of them wearing helmets, ran a red light at the entrance to the crematorium.

Roberts and Gregory Carrigan, 48, were shot dead outside a southern Canberra house last week. Police have charged 20-year-old Russell Field with their murders.

The slayings were initially thought to be an explosion of violence between outlaw bikie gangs, but a long-time Rebels member has said they resulted from a bitter ''love triangle''.

A spokeswoman for ACT police said the funeral and the procession through Canberra on Monday morning were incident-free.

The funeral was held as the NSW government is considering introducing tough new laws aimed at stamping out violent bikie gangs.

The proposed laws would allow police to apply to the Supreme Court for an order to prohibit members identified in an outlaw motorcycle gang from associating with each other.

One bikie at the funeral wore a provocative t-shirt which read, ''Love us or hate us, you'd better get used to us''.

The night before Monday's funeral, a Hells Angel member, believed to be Peter Zervas, 32, was gunned down outside his Sydney home.

The man, who survived the shooting, is the brother of Anthony Zervas, 29, who last week was bludgeoned to death at Sydney airport during a brawl between members of the Hells Angels and the rival bikie gang Comancheros.

- AAP