Former high-ranking bikie opens up on his life of violence with the Rebels - and the feud that made him turn his life around after almost losing it
An ex-bikie has revealed what it was really like being part of the Rebels and how he turned his life around after leaving the motorcycle gang.
Shannon Althouse, who was the sergeant-at-arms for the Darwin Chapter, lived a dangerous life and was known as the muscle of the gang.
In December 2017, Althouse was sentenced to ten-and-a-half years in prison for attempted murder after ordering a brutal reprisal attack that left an unintended victim with serious injuries.
Althouse told I Catch Killers podcast host Gary Jubelin his introduction to the criminal world started when he was young.
Growing up in Darwin, Althouse was amid a culture of alcohol and domestic violence and would often cause trouble with a group of his friends to escape his situation at home.
'We used to just jump on our push bikes and take off, especially when all the parents and all the adults were drinking,' Althouse said.
'You know, that was our safe haven - we'd kill time, kill our boredom, roll around and throw rocks at taxis or police cars and try to get into a police chase.'
Another reason why Althouse wanted to escape was that he was sexually abused from a young age by a friend of the family, often at the house during the parties.
Over the next few years, Althouse had several run-ins with the law, landed himself in jail and became addicted to methamphetamines.
He also became the sergeant-at-arms for the Darwin chapter of the Rebels bikie club - a dangerous position he described as an 'enforcer'.
'You make sure that you enforce all the club policies, and protect the president,' Althouse said.
'You're the president's right hand man, anything happens to him, you are the one that's getting done for it.'
Jubelin said the role seemed as though it was a 'poisoned chalice' as the sergeant-at-arms would always be at the forefront of any violent situation.
Althouse agreed that the position put him in the frontline and often induced anxiety and paranoia.
'If anything goes down, any dramas, any wars - anything,' Althouse said.
'When you're pulling up at the petrol station and a car pulls up and the windows are tinted, you know, like you're wondering - you don't know if you should grab a weapon or not, in case there's somebody … your enemy or an enemy of your mate.'
The position put Althouse in a life-threatening position in 2016 after a member of another club attacked him in the street and ran him over.
Althouse explained the bikie had owed him money and he had previously 'punched him around' following a few failed debt collection attempts.
He and his housemate had gone to meet up with him again, however, this time he wasn't there.
Althouse said he saw headlights and saw the bikie's Hilux facing him, stationary in the middle of the road.
'I started walking towards him and did a twirl, showed him that I had no weapons, you know, and told him to get outta the car,' Althouse said.
'And then - first gear, second gear, third gear, and he just hit me and just ran me over, clean over.'
The ex-bikie hit the ground and immediately went into shock, unable to move or hear what was going on around him.
'My vision slowly started coming back again, and he was looking at me through the window,' Althouse said.
'I thought, no, he's gonna double back and come and run me over to finish me off.'
Althouse knew something was wrong after he pulled himself up off the ground as his body just felt like 'jelly'.
'My whole left side of my body was just smashed. I coughed up a heap of blood on the road and I thought, wow, that's my lung, something's happened to my lung, I've punctured my lung,' Althouse said.
'My housemate came over to me and as I started talking to him, I was spitting blood into his face. I said 'I'm dying. I gotta get to the hospital. I'm dying.'
Althouse suffered extensive injuries including two broken shoulder blades, seven broken ribs - three of which punctured his lung.
Doctors worked tirelessly to save his life, with the ex-bikie losing more than four litres of blood and nearly dying during surgery.
Three weeks after the attack, Althouse was arrested for his involvement in a retaliatory attack on the bikie.
Althouse had purchased the weapons used in the attack but was not present when a group of balaclava-clad men assaulted the bikie's roommate.
While serving ten years in jail for his involvement, Althouse made a decision to change his life for the better.
He began reading about Buddhism and mindfulness and stopped using methamphetamines.
Althouse also used his time while incarcerated in Darwin and Alice Springs to help younger inmates who had just turned 18 and were transferred from juvenile detention to the maximum security prison.
'Some of them couldn't read or write or anything like that. So I was grabbing their briefs and reading them for them and helping them out,' Althouse said.
'And some of the stuff I read, it was pretty disgusting. So I thought, no, I've gotta help these young lads, and I started sitting there and helping them with their court proceedings.
'Helping them get through their compensation payouts and just guiding them as best as I can through the system, through the adult system.'
The inked-up ex-bikie, who has tattoos covering his face, vowed to never return to a life of crime after he was released from prison two years ago.
Althouse is no longer a member of the Rebels motorcycle club and in October this year, and will celebrate being ten years clean and sober.
Now, Althouse uses his experience to mentor First Nations children through boxing and community initiatives in the Northern Territory.
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