Hells Angel 'shot dead by rivals'

Gerry Tobin was shot after attending a biker festival

A biker who was shot dead as he rode home from a festival on a motorway was a victim of gang rivalry, a court has been told.

Gerry Tobin, 35, a mechanic from Mottingham, south-east London, was killed while riding along the M40 in Warwickshire in August last year.

Birmingham Crown Court heard Mr Tobin was a senior member of a London chapter of the Hells Angels.

Six men deny murder and firearms charges. A seventh has admitted murder.

Sean Creighton, 44, of Coventry, also admitted firearms charges at hearing last week and will be sentenced later.

He was undoubtedly targeted, selected and, some would say, executed Prosecutor, Timothy Raggatt QC

In his opening Timothy Raggatt QC told the jury the case had been calculated down to the finest detail.

He also said Mr Tobin, who was returning from a Hells Angel music festival, the Bulldog Bash, near Stratford-upon-Avon, was targeted not because of who he was but what he was.

At the heart of the case is gang rivalry between the Hells Angels and the Outlaws, the jury heard.

Mr Tobin was a senior Hells Angel in a London-based chapter of the group, and was a law-abiding citizen, Mr Raggatt said.

"He was a complete stranger to each and every one of the men in the dock," he said.

"There is not a scrap of evidence any of them had ever met him.

"That said, of course, he was undoubtedly targeted, selected and, some would say, executed."

'Thoroughly ruthless'

The court also heard the six men on trial and Creighton were the entire membership of the South Warwickshire chapter of the Outlaws.

Defendant Malcolm Bull, 53, was the treasurer.

It is possible the Outlaws regarded Long Marston, where the Bulldog Bash was held, as their territory, Mr Raggatt said.

Mr Tobin had been shot by someone in a vehicle which had been travelling at up to 90mph (144km/h), he added.

"The incident was a thoroughly ruthless one executed with great skill and precision, great timing... and was the product of a great deal of planning.

"It was a thoroughly carefully-aimed shot, delivered by someone in a vehicle," he said.

The bullet which killed him was probably fired from a revolver while a second handgun was used to fire a shot at his rear wheel, he added.

'Military-style'

He described the killing as a conspiracy which was determinedly efficient, with contingencies and alternatives planned for.

"It was in that sense almost a military-style operation and had at its heart the plain intention to kill," he said.

The car from where the shot was fired was later found burnt out.

Karl Garside, 45, pleaded not guilty to murder during a previous hearing in February, while Simon Turner, 41, Dane Garside, 42, Malcolm Bull, 53, Dean Taylor, 47, and 46-year-old Ian Cameron entered their not guilty pleas last December.

The full addresses of the defendants, who are from Coventry, Nuneaton and Milton Keynes, cannot be published for legal reasons.

The trial has been adjourned until Tuesday.