Nov 27, 2008 - 04:07 PM

By Jeff Mitchell

WHITBY -- The words "Kill Frank Lenti" were never uttered, but a police agent got the message that he was being dispatched to murder a Hells Angels enemy, a jury has heard.

In his 11th day on the witness stand in this Superior Court trial, Steven Gault, the Crown's key witness in the case against Remond Akleh and Mark Stephenson, continued to insist he was counselled by high-ranking Angels to carry out a hit on Mr. Lenti, a rival biker.

Thursday marked the second day that Glen Orr, the lawyer representing Mr. Akleh, painstakingly reviewed secretly taped conversations Mr. Gault had in the summer of 2006 with Mr. Stephenson.

On the wiretaps, captured at Mr. Stephenson's Sunderland area home, the men are heard discussing topics ranging from lawnmowers to fellow bikers. On occasions their voices drop to murmurs; it was then, Mr. Gault has testified, they discussed a plot hatched a month earlier to murder Mr. Lenti, a Woodbridge biker with ties to the Bandidos gang.

"Where does (Mr. Stephenson) say, 'Go and kill him'?" Mr. Orr asked.

"He never used those words, sir," Mr. Gault, 35, replied.

"He doesn't, does he?" Mr. Orr shot back.

It seems at times as if it's Mr. Gault who's on trial. His character, credibility and motives have been assailed by Mr. Orr and by Brian Grys, the lawyer representing Mr. Stephenson, for the majority of the time Mr. Gault has been on the stand.

The lawyers have delved into Mr. Gault's criminal record, which includes convictions for violence -- he bit off a man's ear in a bar fight -- dishonesty -- he was part of a travelling band of grifters who pulled home renovation scams on seniors -- and intimidation, including threatening to track down the wife and children of a Durham cop who'd stopped him for speeding.

They've also brought to the jury's attention what they say were past beefs with both men now on trial that they say compelled Mr. Gault to frame them. Mr. Stephenson, for instance, once expressed doubts that Mr. Gault had the smarts to act as the Oshawa chapter's secretary. And Mr. Orr said Mr. Gault bore a number of grudges against Mr. Akleh, the most prominent being Mr. Akleh's alleging Mr. Gault was a police informant who ought to be kicked out of the Hells Angels.

That incident went to a Hells Angels arbitration tribunal that concluded Mr. Gault was not a rat; he kept his colours -- and his cover -- while Mr. Akleh had a gun held to his head as a warning, jurors heard.

Mr. Gault, hired by police as an agent to gather information on drug dealing among bikers, went on to implicate 16 Angels in an investigation dubbed Project Tandem. He'll make in excess of $1 million for his work, jurors heard.

Mr. Akleh and Mr. Stephenson were among the bikers busted on Sept. 28, 2006. They have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and counselling to commit murder.

Throughout the cross-examination Mr. Gault, a stocky man who admits he has a short fuse and no compunction about exchanging punches, has kept his composure. His anger hasn't flared but he was caught totally by surprise Monday afternoon when Mr. Orr asked him if he was aware that Mr. Akleh himself had worked as an unpaid police informant -- providing information about Mr. Gault.

"You've got to be kidding me," Mr. Gault replied.

The trial, which began in late October, is expected to continue into 2009.