Robert Armstrong (1948 – 19 December 2012) was an Australian policeman regarded as the "pre-eminent bikie gang expert" with the Victoria Police.
[3] In 1975, Armstrong gave a television conference where he accused the Melbourne Hells Angels chapter of being engaged in gun-running and selling amphetamine.
[3] Hill's lawsuit was dismissed by a judge who ruled that the Melbourne chapter was so infamous that its members had no good reputation for Armstrong to damage.
They ranged from 'We're going to land a plane on your station; we're going to drop a bomb' to 'we're gonna kill Bob Armstrong and his team of bloody detectives'...If you let them get to you it'll drive you mad.
[7] In December 1981, an elderly woman, Mrs. Brown, reported a number of suspicious vehicles at the Greenslopes farm outside of Wattle Glen.
[7] A police constable ran a computer search on the license plate of the automobile which belonged to a Hells Angel, which alerted Armstrong.
[7] Curious as why a Hells Angel would be out in a remote rural area, Armstrong drove out to Greenslopes and discovered the largest amphetamine lab in Australia up to that point.
[7] He had Greenslopes bugged and listened in as Hill along with the Hells Angels Roger Biddlestone, Ray Hamment and John Madden went about manufacturing amphetamine.
[6] Detective Sergeant Steele Waterman of the Victoria police who served with Armstrong on the Omega squad recalled: "Bob was pretty sharp.
[9] Armstrong contacted the Australian Federal Police for information about any American Hells Angel called "the Assassin", and learned that James Patton "Jim-Jim" Brandes of the Oakland chapter was known by that moniker.
[10] Both Kracht and Zerby were officers whom Brandes had "locked horns with" as the Hells Angels president Sonny Barger phrased it in his autobiography.
[11] The customs officials found in Brandes's luggage a photograph of Armstrong along with his home address; newspaper articles about Hill's trials; a pair of thumb screws; a detector for finding electronic listening devices; and the U.S. Treasury's forensic handbook with the passages about how to wipe off fingerprints off metal being highlighted.
[11] Armstrong told Sher and Marsden that Brandes was a "hard nut" whom it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to turn Crown's evidence.
[11] It was soon discovered that Brandes had lied on his visa as he failed to mention his prior convictions for gun-running and drug dealing, which led him to be deported back to the United States (foreigners with criminal records are not allowed to enter Australia).
[14] Armstrong decided to "crack" Hill by waging a psychological campaign designed to trick him into believing one of his chapter was an informer.
[15] Within the earshot of the arrested Hells Angel, Armstrong and his colleagues would make seemingly casual remarks such as: "That was good information that bloke gave us".
[17] In 1987, Hill pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and sell amphetamine and in the ensuring trials his testimony sent most of his former chapter to prison.
[18] Shortly before he turned Crown's evidence, Hill had sold the recipe for making amphetamines to John Higgs, the president of the Black Uhlans biker gang of Brisbane.
[19] Operation Barkly culminated on 11 December 1997, when approximately 100 police officers carried out a series of coordinated raids against the Bandidos in four states.
[19] Finally, Armstrong argued that all four of the undercover officers were showing signs of psychological stress and he thought it best to end the operation before any of his agents made a mistake that might cost them their lives.
[1][24] Armstrong told the Australian journalist John Silverster: "One of the frustrations in Victoria was the lack of resources, but with the NCA we had a large budget and we were able to take on some really big investigations.
[24] The detective was fired after he told a colleague about the sort of questions that he might be asked at a crime commission job interview, which Armstrong felt was a petty and wrong-headed move.
[20] Ken Lay, Chief Commissioner of the Victoria Police, paid tribute to Armstrong, describing him as "a man who could be relied upon to do the hard jobs", and saying: "He was respected by senior and junior coppers alike".