The 17 and 18-year-old girls, students at St. Hilda’s School, were bussed to a mystery location after their school formal at the area’s convention center. Evidently, the after party location was kept secret to deter potential gatecrashers. The girls all claimed they had no idea they were entering a criminal stronghold.
Those claims, despite the fact that NMC (“Nomads Motorcycle Club”) was displayed prominently above the entrance.
A spokeswoman for the mayor confirmed, “The students had no prior knowledge of the location…as teenage girls, I doubt they realized even after they arrived.”
St. Hilda’s certainly wasn’t involved. The elite prep school, with annual fees of $16,000 for upper school students (not including boarding fees), declined to comment on the controversy, other than to note that it was not responsible.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that this is third time a private top-tier school has had students attend parties at outlaw motorcycle clubhouses.
In 2007, students from Emmanuel College held a formal after-party at the Rebels clubhouse, and in 2006, the Bandidos Mermaid Beach clubhouse was the venue for a similar event for students from The Southport School.
The Nomads Motorcycle Club is one of several violent outlaw gangs involved in an escalating turf war in Australia. After a shooting at a shopping mall in April which injured one innocent bystander, and a spate of drive-by attacks throughout the summer, officials have sought to crack down. Police are primarily using building violations to arrest members from the Nomads, Bandidos and Hells Angels chapters.
