Dayne Brajkovich backed in court by senior Mongol Troy Mercanti, pleads guilty to swastika tattoo offence

Dayne Brajkovich has pleaded guilty to displaying a swastika but insists he’s no nazi, and been accompanied to court by Troy Mercanti, cementing his move to the Mongols. The 46-year-old feared bikie enforcer was joined by several other outlaws at Perth Magistrates Court on Monday, all clad in black and white. The neutral-toned combo has been adopted by the Mongols to get around hardline laws against wearing bikie colours, with the gang favouring NFL Raiders garb. Brajkovich’s adoption of the colours at his past two court appearances seemingly confirmed speculation he had joined the gang — and is now set in stone. Mercanti replied “he’s a good man” when asked outside court why he had attended court to support his heavily tattooed friend. “We’re the twins,” the senior bikie said, asked about their matching singlets. Brajkovich’s lawyer Patrick Gardner argued in court that his client’s swastika — inked on his chin — was “very small” and had been modified, while he had covered other controversial tattoos. “There’s no allegiance to any group. There’s no undertone... no affiliation at all,” Mr Gardner said, which Chief Magistrate Steven Heath accepted. Brajkovich also pleaded guilty to two drug offences and one count of carrying a prohibited weapon. The court was told that Gang Response Group officers had found metal knuckledusters along with multiple vials of testosterone and peptides during a search of his Burswood home in September. “My client has previously been prescribed those drugs,” Mr Gardner said, adding that they had aided his recovery from his “days of fighting”. Brajkovich was a Muay Thai competitor before joining the Hells Angels, rising to sergeant-at-arms. “There’s nothing sinister there from my client’s point of view,” the lawyer said. He added that Brajkovich was a “functioning member of society” who had a demolition company with his brother-in-law and had recently endured a marriage breakdown. As for the knuckledusters, he had forgotten they were there. ”He forgot they were in existence,” Mr Gardner said. The chief magistrate accepted the submissions, saying Brajkovich had not been brandishing the weapon in public and the swastika was “not particularly obvious”. “Obviously you attract attention — you need to make sure there’s nothing in there that’s going to cause offence,” Mr Heath said. He said Brajkovich also needed to ensure his prescriptions were “in order”. The chief magistrate ordered the destruction of the drugs and knuckledusters, and fined him $500 for each of the four offences, ordering he pay court costs. Brajkovich told reporters that the matter was a “big fuss for nothing” and declined to respond when asked if he was taking steroids.